2nd Mates Course (Officer of the Watch Course)  

Course Title:STCW 95 II/I Officer of the Watch (OOW) – ( 2nd Mates )

Eligibility Requirements:

• A minimum of 36 months of sea service on merchant ships in an acceptable deck capacity for e.g. OS, AB, Bosun, cadet  etc. whilst holding a valid medical fitness certificate recognised by the MCA, UK.
  
• You should have 6 months of documented bridge watch-keeping duties in your last 12 months of sailing.
  

Documentary evidence of eligibility requirements would be a minimum of 36 months of sea service stamps on your CDC (even non Indian CDC for e.g. Panama, Liberia, Bahamas, Thai, etc. are acceptable). You will also need company seatime letter or Masters testimonials for the 36 months of sea service. The 6 months of bridge watchkeeping certificate from the 
Master (or the company) must mention that you have kept 8 hours (not 4 hours) of bridge watchkeeping duties every day as 
assistant to the main watchkeeper whilst the vessel was at sea.

Format for Bridge Watchkeeping Certificate and Company Sea Service Letter are as given below:

• Bridge Watchkeeping Format
  
• Company Sea Service Letter Format
  

You DO NOT need any Class XII PCM (Science) for the 2nd Mates course as eligibility is given entirely on the basis of your sea service and not your educational qualifications.





Admission Procedure:
For booking a course, you will need to post the following documents .to your college address

• Completed Deck Course Booking Form
  
• Photocopy of the first and last page of your Passport
  
• Photocopy of all the pages of the CDC except the blank pages
  
• Electronic bank transfer of  £ 1,200 to be made to the college.
  

Please note that the deposit payment of £ 1,200 is not refundable if you decide not to do the course. The deposit 
can be transferred only in your name for the same course within 24 months of the first course starting date subject
to you having informed the college in writing / by email about your decision to postpone the course. A transfer 
charge of 200 GBP is applicable per transfer and this will be debited from the deposit payment.

Seats for the 2nd Mates course gets filled up 6 months in advance. Hence, students are advised to apply early as seats
are allotted on a first come first served basis. You need not have completed 36 months of sea service to book your seat but
you must complete your sea service before going to join the college in UK. Admission letter will be sent to your email 
address in about 4 weeks after receiving your documents by us in Mumbai. Most students book their seats 9 months in 
advance i.e. before joining ship for their last sailing contract before leaving for studies to UK.

If you happen to be on board a ship, you can email the scanned copies of your documents to ur college
electronic payment to the college can be done by your parents / relatives on your behalf. Hence, you can book a seat in the college even if you happen to be on the ship at that point of time.

STCW advanced courses & GMDSS:
The following short courses need to be completed by the students from India, preferably before going to the UK:

• Advanced Fire Fighting
  
• Medical First Aid
  
• Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Craft
  
• GMDSS (UK or India)
  

If for some reason, the student is not able to complete these courses prior to going to UK, he can come back from the UK,
finish the short courses, send the certificates to MCA, UK and the MCA will post the CoC to the student in about 3 weeks time.

The following  short courses have to be necessarily done in the UK and they are:

• NARAS (O) – also known as ROC ARPA in India(ectdis and simulator includes)
  
• Efficient Deck Hand
  
• HELM

UKVI IELTS English Language Test:
An English language test is a requirement before you can apply for the UK student visa.
for booking a seat in the college but you will not be able to apply for a UK visa if you have not cleared this English language 
test.

You may book the UKVI IELTS test online by visiting the website given below:www.ieltsidpindia.comAlternatively, you may visit one of the many offices given in the above website and book for the exam in person also.
This test is held in most of the major cities in India about 2 times in a month and the fees is about 18,500 Rs/- approximately.
You are likely to get a seat for the test about 2 weeks later and the results also take about 2 weeks time to come out. Hence,
you should look to sign off from the ship about 2 - 3 months before your course commencement date so that you have time 
to sit for the English language test, get the results, send the results to the college and then only can you apply for the UK student visa.

The UKVI IELTS test result has to be emailed to the college latest about 4 weeks prior to the course commencement date failing which you will not be issued with a CAS number which is required to apply for a UK visa.

The UKVI IELTS test is of two kinds, UKVI IELTS General and UKVI IELTS Academic. Both the results are acceptable but as 
UKVI IELTS General is relatively easier compared to UKVI IELTS Academic, hence you should prefer to sit for the UKVI 
IELTS General exam.

The UKVI IELTS test is a paper and pencil test in which you will have to score acccording to ur college requirement in Reading, Writing, Listening if ur fail to score required marks, you will have to repeat the test again and pay the fees of 9,900 Rs/-.

Although, coaching for the test is not a requirement, if you feel that you need coaching for the test, you may take it and the 
cost normally in different cities in India is about 5,000 Rs/- for 1 month of coaching.



The approximate living cost is as given below but it will vary from person to person:

• Accommodation rent: £ 180 – 200 / month / person in a non-sharing room
  
• 
  
• Food (home cooked): £ 40 – 50 / month / person
  
• Electricity and heating bills: £ 10 – 20 / month / person
  

Funds to show for UK Visa:
Visa rules keep on changing pretty frequently and hence every student should be aware of what the present rules are.

Keep yourself updated with the latest UK student visa rules by visiting the website:  https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/student-visasPlease do not go blindly by what your seniors may have told you on ship because what they say may have been true during 
their trip to the UK may not necessarily hold true now.

This money can be shown as cash in your bank account or  as an educational loan sanction letter or part cash in account 
and the balance by educational loan sanction letter. The cash in your bank account should be there for atleast 28 days 
before you apply for your UK student visa. The source of cash in your account is not questioned by the UK visa authorities 
but even after you have got your visa, the visa authorities may check to ensure that funds are still there after you have 
received your UK student visa. If you are showing part cash and the balance by educational loan letter, the cash component 
has to wait for 28 days (before you can apply for UK visa) but the educational loan letter need not be 28 days old as it can 
be used with immediate effect for the visa application process.

UK Visa Application Procedure:

. The only 2 things that the student needs to complete from his end 
before his UK visa can be applied are the following:

• Clear UKVI IELTS English language test.
  
• Arrange for the requisite funds in his bank account and wait for 28 days.
  

90% of visa applications are processed within 2 - 3 weeks whilst in 10% cases, the visa processing time may be more than 3 
weeks. The visa duration that you will get is for 12 months. The visa will normally start about 1 month before your course 
commencement date and will finish about 2 months after the course completion date

.Applying for a Notice of Eligibility (NoE):
Students need to apply for a NoE to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), UK to be eligible to sit for the written and
oral examinations in the UK. You can apply for your NoE from India prior to going to the UK or you can apply for your NoE
during your stay in the UK. It is not necessary to be in possession of NoE for booking the course. However, if you have
doubts that some of your sea-time may not be counted by the MCA for whatsoever reasons (for e.g. missing documents, no
stamps on the CDC, company did not give sea service letter, sailed on Gulf ships, etc.), it would be advisable to do your
NoE before booking your course.  The processing time for the NoE is normally 28 working days but it may extend upto 2 
months also depending upon the work load at the MCA. If your documents are found to be forged, all your documents will be
seized and you will not be allowed to sit for exams in the UK again.

The following is the procedure to apply for a NOE:
       

• Download the NoE Form MSF 4274 and fill up the NOE form  by pen in CAPITAL LETTERS only.
  
• Enclose your NoE application form, Passport, CDC, STCW basic courses (PST, PSSR, FPFF, EFA), Sea Service Letters / Masters testimonials of 36 months, 6 months of Bridge Watch-keeping Certificate, valid Medical Fitness Certificate in ILO 147 Format, 2 passport size photographs (size 40mm x 50m with white background) and a DD of £ 201 in favour of “MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY”. Please note that all documents have to be in original except for the Passport whose notarised photocopy of first & last page is to be sent.
  
• Send the documents by a good courier for e.g. DHL and check on the DHL website when the documents have been received by the MCA.
  
• If you have not got any information from the MCA after 40 days, please send an email to the MCA at                deck@mcga.gov.uk mentioning your Name, Date of Birth and Courier consignment number. Ask them, what is the status of your NOE.
  

The NoE is not required for booking a seat in the college or for applying for a UK visa application. It will be required before 
you can sit for the MCA orals or the SQA written examination.