STCW PSSR 2026: 10 Key Points About the New Mandatory Training on Bullying, Harassment, and Sexual Assault
Our take
The upcoming implementation of the STCW PSSR (Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers - Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities) training, which mandates training on bullying, harassment, and sexual assault awareness for all seafarers from January 1, 2026, marks a significant shift in maritime industry standards. As the maritime world grapples with evolving norms and expectations, this amendment reflects a growing recognition of the importance of psychological safety and respect in the workplace. This development resonates with other recent maritime news, such as the Australian Navy's plans for a major overhaul of its aging Collins-Class submarines and India's strategy to send new ships through the Hormuz Strait to secure vital oil and gas resources. Both highlight the imperative for innovation and adaptation within the maritime sector, albeit from different angles.
The introduction of mandatory training on harassment and abuse is not merely a regulatory update; it is a necessary response to long-standing issues that have, too often, been swept under the rug. The maritime industry has historically been characterized by rigid hierarchies and cultural norms that can enable misconduct. By mandating training in these critical areas, the STCW aims to foster an environment where seafarers feel empowered to report inappropriate behavior without fear of reprisal. This is essential for creating a more inclusive and respectful workplace, ultimately enhancing crew cohesion and operational effectiveness.
Moreover, this amendment comes at a time when the maritime and shipping industries are under increasing scrutiny regarding their social practices. The recent charges against four of the world's largest shipping container manufacturers over a multi-billion-dollar trade conspiracy underscores the need for ethical conduct across all levels of the industry. Just as transparency in corporate practices is essential for maintaining trust, so too is the commitment to ensuring respectful interactions among seafarers. Addressing bullying and harassment head-on is a step toward building a culture that values dignity and respect, which is crucial for attracting new talent to an industry facing labor shortages and an aging workforce.
The implications of this training requirement extend beyond compliance. It signals a broader cultural shift within the maritime sector, where the well-being of crew members is recognized as integral to operational success. As seafarers often spend extended periods away from home in close quarters, the potential for interpersonal conflict increases. Training that addresses bullying and harassment can serve not only as a preventative measure but also as a means to instill a sense of accountability and shared responsibility among crew members. This proactive approach to psychological safety aligns with the industry's commitment to sustainability and ethical practices, as it acknowledges that a healthy workforce is critical for the long-term viability of maritime operations.
Looking ahead, the implementation of this training will be closely monitored for its effectiveness. Will it lead to a tangible decrease in reported incidents of harassment and bullying? How will it reshape the culture on vessels and in maritime organizations? These questions remain pivotal as the industry evolves. As we continue to explore developments like those seen in India Plans To Send New Ships Through Hormuz Strait To Load Oil & Gas From Middle East or the implications of recent government actions, it is clear that a comprehensive approach to both technological and social dimensions is essential for the future of maritime endeavors. The commitment to addressing harassment and bullying is an essential part of this journey, reminding us that the health of our oceans is inextricably linked to the health of those who work on them.
Addressing violence and harassment at sea has been a priority for the international maritime community and seafarer welfare organisations, flag states and industry bodies provided evidence and advocacy that shaped a coordinated regulatory response. That response is reflected in a mandatory minimum standard, applicable to every seafarer on an international trading SOLAS vessel, from 1 January 2026.
That standard is set by IMO Resolution MSC.560(108). Starting from 1 January 2026, all seafarers on an international trading SOLAS vessel will be required to demonstrate competence in the prevention of and response to violence, harassment, sexual harassment, bullying and sexual assault as part of Basic Safety Training. This is not a flag state recommendation or a company policy guideline. This is a minimum standard under international maritime law.
Below are ten points that explain what has changed, who it affects and what seafarers, crewing managers and training providers need to do.
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How IMO came up with the new mandatory standard
The IMO’s response to violence and harassment at sea was developed through extensive consultation. The ITF, the ICS and seafarer welfare organisations gave evidence of the extent and impact of harassment and bullying at sea, while the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention 2006 provided a complementary framework of worker protections. Recognising the importance of minimum standards that are trainable and enforceable as part of the STCW framework, the IMO Marine Safety Committee created a workstream in 2022 to address this issue.
A Joint IMO/ILO Tripartite Working Group (JTWG) was established to ensure that the new requirements would be consistent in the instruments of both organisations. The group met 27-29 February 2024 at IMO Headquarters, London, and agreed harmonised terminology and minimum training requirements designed to work across both the STCW Convention and ILO frameworks simultaneously – a deliberate step towards a consistent international standard.
MSC 107, in 2023, adopted the draft amendments. MSC 108 adopted Resolution MSC.560(108) on 23 May 2024, which will enter into force on 1 January 2026. The reason for the 18-month lead time was that training providers, flag states and maritime education institutions needed time to update their programmes, seek approval from maritime administrations and issue guidance to operators.
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The Specific Legal Change: Resolution MSC.560(108) and STCW Table A-VI/1-4
The legal instrument is IMO Resolution MSC.560(108): Amendments to Part A of the Seafarers’ Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Code. It amends only one table: Table A-VI/1-4, which specifies the minimum standard of competence for Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities, the fourth element of the STCW Basic Safety Training.
That table has new competence wording: “Contribute to the prevention of and response to violence and harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and sexual assault.”
This requirement is already included in the Basic Safety Training framework. Seafarers do not have a separate certificate for harassment training.
The competence is part of the things to be demonstrated for the standard Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities (PSSR)certificate.
It is the responsibility of training providers to ensure that their revised PSSR programmes include this competence column with the knowledge and understanding requirements as set out in the same table, before issuing certificates to seafarers.
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What the New Rules Term “Violence and Harassment”
Harmonised terminology was an intentional output of the JTWG process – language that aligns IMO instruments with the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), ratified by several flag states. STCW amendment has four different categories.
Violence means any physical act, including assault, on a vessel or in the performance of work at sea.
Harassment is unwelcome conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment. This includes persistent verbal abuse, threats and behaviour aimed to demean and isolate a crew member.
Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual behaviour that a seafarer does not consent to and that a reasonable person would consider to be offensive, humiliating or intimidating. It does not matter what the rank or gender of those involved are.
Bullying is repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards an individual or group – and differs from harassment in that it refers to a pattern of conduct rather than isolated incidents.
Sexual assault is any sexual activity that happens without the consent of both people. The amendment to STCW Regulation I/5 (see Point 8) provides that a conviction for sexual assault is a ground for suspension or revocation of a Certificate of Competency.
The use of the same terminology in IMO and ILO instruments is not accidental. It provides a benchmark that will be consistent across STCW and the amended MLC 2006 when those amendments come into force in December 2027.
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Who Is Covered: Ships, Ranks and Flag States
The amendment applies to all seafarers serving on board ships to which the STCW Convention applies – that is, all internationally trading vessels except ships that navigate exclusively on inland waterways, ships of less than 200 GT on domestic voyages and ships that are propelled by sail alone.
Fishing vessels and domestic passenger ferries are not covered by the STCW framework and therefore this requirement does not apply to them directly. Flag states may, however, apply similar requirements to these vessels through national legislation.
The requirement is rank-blind. This applies to officers, ratings, catering staff and engine room crew. No seniority exception.
Any certificate renewed after 1 January 2026 will need to reflect the new competence for a master who has completed Basic Safety Training prior to that date.
Implementation of transitional arrangements is flag state specific and varies. Prior to the January 2026 effective date, the UK MCA published Marine Information Notice MIN 729 (M+F) confirming that certificates issued before 1 January 2026 remain valid for the five-year period and the updated requirement applies on first renewal.
Liberia, now the world’s biggest ship registry by gross tonnage, and second-largest Panama, both have issued their own implementation positions confirming alignment with IMO transitional arrangements.
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What Seafarers will Really Learn in the Training
The most important detail that is missing from most articles about this amendment, however, is a clear description of what the updated PSSR training requires seafarers to actually learn.
Table A-VI/1-4 sets out the requirements for competence and the associated knowledge, understanding and proficiency. Seafarers completing the updated PSSR training must demonstrate four things.
Acknowledgements : The ability to recognise behaviours that constitute violence, harassment, sexual harassment, bullying and sexual assault as defined by the harmonised IMO/ILO framework — including behaviours that may be normalised by onboard culture, such as persistent exclusion, use of rank to coerce or repeated derogatory remarks.
Reporting: Awareness of the reporting mechanisms available to seafarers, including the Master and the Designated Person Ashore (DPA), the flag state authority and port state welfare services. “Seafarers should be aware that confidential reporting options exist and that retaliation against a complainant is not permitted.
Bystander Response: How to intervene safely when they witness an incident, how to document what they saw and how to support a colleague that has made a report without compromising their own position.
Victim assistance: The significance of not minimising or dismissing disclosures, not requiring immediate evidence, and not pressuring a person who has reported an incident to escalate before they are ready. This aligns with guidance consistent with the ITF and ILO published frameworks on trauma informed support at sea.
Training does not turn all seafarers into trained counsellors or investigators. It sets a minimum standard – one that is enforceable and subject to review under the STCW regime – so that no seafarer can plead ignorance of what these behaviours are or how to respond to them.
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Your Current PSSR Certificate: What’s Still Good
The amendment does not invalidate any PSSR certificates issued before 1 January 2026. Under transitional arrangements confirmed by the IMO and reflected in flag state guidance such as MCA MIN 729, a certificate with a validity to 2028 or 2029 continues to be valid for its full five-year period.
The amended competence requirement is relevant in two situations.
- a seafarer renewing a PSSR certificate on or after 1 January 2026 shall complete updated training on the harassment competence.
- Where a seafarer is issued with a PSSR certificate for the first time on or after 1 January 2026, they must undertake the revised programme from the outset.
This means an obligation to verify for companies and crewing managers at the time of sign-on.
A seafarer signing on in March 2026 with a pre-amendment PSSR certificate valid until 2027 is compliant – the old certificate is still valid.
A seafarer with an expired PSSR Certificate in December 2025, renewed in January 2026, must have the updated certificate
It is the duty of the crewing department to check.
Training providers who have failed to revise their PSSR programmes to include harassment competence should not be issuing certificates after 1 January 2026.
Companies must check that certificates issued after this date have been issued by providers whose programmes have been approved by the relevant maritime administration for the updated standard.
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Company Level Obligations: The 2006 Amendments to the MLC
The STCW amendment deals with the seafarer. A parallel set of changes manage the company.
A seventh set of amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention was adopted at the Fifth Meeting of the ILO Special Tripartite Committee under MLC 2006, 7-11 April 2025, in Geneva.
These amendments contain explicit obligations on violence and harassment under Regulations 1.4, 3.1, 4.3 and 5.1.
The 113th International Labour Conference adopted those amendments on 6 June 2025. They were notified to Member States on 23 June 2025, and come into force on 23 December 2027.
These amendments impose company level obligations on shipowners and managers of vessels covered by MLC 2006, most vessels trading internationally of 500 GT and above, in addition to the requirement for seafarers to have the correct training certificate.
The amended MLC framework requires companies to
– recognise violence and harassment as a risk in their Safety Management Systems,
– establish and publish a reporting procedure for seafarers to report incidents without fear of retribution,
– provide for victim care including the possibility of removing a seafarer from the vessel in serious cases and ensure that the prohibition of retaliation is explicit and enforceable, rather than implied through general conduct policies.
The practical time line is important. The STCW training requirement is already applicable from 1 January 2026.
The MLC company-level obligations will start in December 2027.
Those who wait until the MLC deadline to review their SMS policies are already behind the standard the industry has set.
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STCW Regulation I/5: When Certificate May Be Suspended
One element of the 2026 amendments that has been almost untouched by the maritime press is the concurrent amendment to STCW Regulation I/5.
This regulation specifies the conditions under which a flag State may suspend or revoke a Certificate of Competency.
The amendment specifies conviction for sexual assault as one of the grounds on which a flag state may take action against a seafarer’s certificate.
Up to this point, Regulation I/5 had covered professional and operational failures, such as fraud, incompetence and gross negligence.
Sexual assault is now recognised for the first time in the STCW system as a criminal offence against another person on board a ship that may lead to permanent removal from the profession.
And the practical consequence is immediate. A seafarer convicted of sexual assault in any jurisdiction on the basis that the flag State has adopted the amended Regulation I/5 may be suspended from holding a Certificate of Competency until an investigation is conducted and revoked upon conviction. The flag State does not have to wait for a separate maritime disciplinary process, a criminal court conviction is a sufficient trigger.
This provision goes beyond training and compliance. This, combined with the STCW training requirement and the MLC company obligations, sends a message that the maritime regulatory framework now sees violence and harassment as issues of professional conduct with career-ending consequences, not interpersonal disputes to be resolved internally.
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Application of the Rules by Different Flag States
Implementation is left to flag states and approaches vary, according to the STCW Convention.
Three major registries have documented positions published.
United Kingdom: MCA has published Marine Information Notice MIN 729 (M+F) in advance of its effective date in January 2026. The confirmation is that pre-amendment PSSR certificates are valid for their five year period, that updated training is required on renewal and that training providers need to get MCA approval for updated PSSR programmes before they can issue certificates to seafarers on UK flag vessels.
Liberia: The world’s largest ship registry by gross tonnage – having overtaken Panama in 2023 to account for more than 17% of the global ocean-going fleet – has confirmed its alignment with the IMO transitional provisions. Existing certificates remain valid. Competence must be updated on renewal
Panama: The second-largest ship registry by tonnage has confirmed its implementation position in line with IMO transitional arrangements, requiring updated competence on renewal or first issue after 1 January 2026.
Companies with multi-flag trading require a flag-by-flag review before the next crewing cycle.
Although the minimum competence requirement is the same in all implementing states (as taken from Table A-VI/1-4), specific transitional arrangements, approved training provider lists and certificate endorsement formats may differ between registries.
The risk for a company is that it has engaged a seafarer whose certificate was issued by an unapproved provider.
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What Now: Seafarers, Crewing Managers and Training Providers
For the Seafarers:
- Check the expiry date on your existing PSSR certificate. If it was issued before 1 January 2026 and it’s within its five-year validity period, it remains compliant during that period.
- If you are joining a new vessel after 1 January 2026 and your PSSR certificate has expired, ensure the renewal is done with a training provider whose programme has been updated and approved by your flag state.
- Learn the vessel’s onboard reporting procedure for harassment and violence before you sign on. Learn how it works before you need it, not after.
- Seafarers registered under the UK, Liberian, Panamanian or other major flag registries should check if their flag state has issued any specific guidance on recognition of certificates during the transition period.
To crewing departments and HR managers
- Revise sign-on verification processes to distinguish between pre-2026 PSSR certificates (which will remain valid for the rest of their five-year term) and post-2026 certificates (which will need to be reflective of the updated competence).
- Audited training matrices for all vessels under management. Identify seafarers with PSSR certificates due for renewal and ensure that these are renewed with an approved and up-to-date programme.
- Review fleet employment policies prior to the December 2027 entry-into-force date, taking into account the MLC 2006 amendment obligations (particularly the reporting procedure, prohibition of retaliation and victim care provisions).
- Do not apply one transition policy to all flags without checking for specific guidance for each registry.
For training providers and maritime schools:
- PSSR programmes should specifically address the competency column added to Table A-VI/1-4: recognition, reporting, bystander response and victim support.
- to secure the approval of revised programmes by the maritime administration before certificates are issued. Flag states may refuse a certificate issued after 1 January 2026 by an unapproved provider.
- Guidance for instructors delivering the revised PSSR modules on trauma-informed facilitation. The subject matter requires different delivery skills than fire safety or first aid training.
FAQs
Do you need to retake your PSSR training if you still have a valid certificate?
No. All certificates issued before 1 January 2026 shall remain valid until the end of the five-year period. The new training requirement will apply when your certificate expires and needs renewal or when you are first getting a PSSR certificate after 1 January 2026.
Does this apply to all ranks including officers?
Yes. The requirement applies to all seafarers on board an internationally trading SOLAS vessel, irrespective of rank – deck officers, engine officers, ratings and catering crew are all subject to the same minimum standard of competence.
What if I arrive after 1 January 2026 with a pre-amendment PSSR certificate?
If the certificate is within its five year validity period then it is compliant and you may sign on. If your certificate has expired and has been renewed after 1 January 2026, the renewed certificate must show the updated competence.
Is yacht and superyacht crew included in this requirement?
Commercial superyachts >500 GT conducting international voyages are subject to SOLAS, and therefore STCW. The SOLAS threshold is usually not a regulatory concern for yachts on domestic voyages, but flag states may require equivalent measures under national law.
What should a seafarer do if they are harassed onboard?
Record the incident with dates, times and witnesses if possible. Report to the Master or, if the Master is involved, to the Company Designated Person Ashore (DPA). If the onboard reporting channel cannot be used safely, contact the ITF, a port state welfare officer or a seafarer mission at the next port.
Is this only sexual harassment or does it include bullying between male crew members?
The amendment covers all forms of violence and harassment, irrespective of gender. Bullying between any crew members is actually specified as a separate defined category.” The term was added to cover the most commonly reported type of misconduct on the job at sea.
References:
IMO Resolution MSC.560(108) — Amendments to Part A of the STCW Code — adopted 23 May 2024 –
https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MSCResolutions/MSC.560(108).pdfIMO MSC 108 Session Summary – https://www.imo.org/en/mediacentre/meetingsummaries/pages/msc-108th-session.aspx
IMO Press Briefing — Raft of shipping rules in force from 1 January 2026 – https://www.imo.org/en/mediacentre/pressbriefings/pages/raft-of-shipping-rules-in-force-from-1-january-2026.aspx
IMO/ILO Joint Tripartite Working Group — Meeting Summary, 27–29 February 2024 – https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/MeetingSummaries/Pages/Joint-ILOIMO-Tripartite-Working-Group-(JTWG),-27-to-29-February-2024.aspx
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