STCW Basic Safety Training: 4 Modules, 5 Days, Real Costs

22 Oct 2026

If you want to work on a superyacht, the first ticket anyone asks for is your STCW. Before a captain looks at your CV, and before you walk a single dock in Antibes or Fort Lauderdale, you need two things: an ENG1 medical and STCW Basic Safety Training (BST). This guide covers what BST is, what's in it, what it costs, which parts expire, and the online question everyone asks.

Facts and prices checked 21 October 2026 unless a different date is noted.

What is STCW, and what does it stand for?

STCW stands for the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, the global minimum standard for seafarer training. When yacht crew say "my STCW", they mean STCW Basic Safety Training: a 5-day course of four safety modules that every crew member needs before joining a boat, whether you're a junior stew, a deckhand or a chef.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the convention on 7 July 1978, and it came into force on 28 April 1984 (IMO).

What's in STCW Basic Safety Training?

BST is four core modules, and most schools add security training to fill a 5-day week. Each module has its own STCW Code reference and its own certificate.

Lengths are from UK school timetables (MRSL for the BST modules, UKSA via STCW Direct for PDSD). Refresh rules are covered below.

PST is the one with the pool: donning a lifejacket, jumping in, righting a capsized liferaft, climbing in from the water. FP&FF is the longest module and the one people remember, with real fires, breathing apparatus and smoke-filled rooms. EFA, the STCW first aid module, covers CPR and basic casualty care. PSSR is classroom work on safe working practices, communication and life on board.

Personal Survival Techniques covers survival craft like this free-fall lifeboat, though on yachts you're far more likely to be abandoning ship into a liferaft. Photo: ~riley, CC BY-SA 3.0.

PSA or PDSD: which security course do you need?

You need one or the other, not both. The STCW Code sets STCW security awareness (PSA) for crew "without designated security duties" (Section A-VI/6, paragraph 4), and PDSD for crew who have duties under the vessel's security plan. On yachts, jobs like gangway watch and guest access often land on deckhands and stews, so if a captain or a job ad asks for PDSD, book that instead of PSA. Some schools include PSA in the BST price, so check before you pay for security training twice.

STCW 95 vs STCW 2010: what's the difference?

They're versions of the same convention. The 1995 amendments, adopted at an IMO conference in June and July 1995, rewrote the rules and created the STCW Code (IMO). The 2010 Manila amendments came into force on 1 January 2012, and from 1 January 2017 the MCA required documentary evidence of updated training (MCA). That is where the 5-year refresher rule for PST and FP&FF comes from.

People still say "STCW 95" out of habit, and some schools still use it in course titles. Any BST you take today is issued under the convention as amended in 2010, so if someone asks for "STCW 95", they mean your BST.

How long does STCW Basic Training take, and what does it cost?

Plan on 5 consecutive days and roughly $1,100 to $1,550 in Florida, €1,150 to €1,300 in Antibes, or £600 to £875 in the UK. Prices are for the course only. Accommodation is extra unless you book a residential package.

Budget for the week around the course too: you can't work while you're in the pool and on the fire ground, and courses near the big hubs fill up before the Med and Caribbean seasons.

Does STCW expire?

Partly. Under MCA rules, PST and FP&FF need proof that you've completed or refreshed them within the last 5 years if you're serving on board. EFA and PSSR don't. MIN 643 states plainly that "there is no requirement for seafarers to update" PSSR or Elementary First Aid (MIN 643, section 5.1).

So in practice, your BST "expires" five years after your PST and FP&FF dates, and a short refresher resets the clock. UK refresher prices and booking are in our STCW refresher course UK guide.

US-issued STCW works differently. Under 46 CFR 11.302, US mariners must show they've maintained competence in all four Basic Training elements every 5 years. A year of sea service in that period covers part of it, but the survival and fire-fighting practicals still have to be assessed ashore, or you do approved refresher training. If you hold a US credential, check with the National Maritime Center rather than relying on UK rules.

Can you do STCW online?

Some of it, but not the practical modules. The MCA says it does "not accept any online courses where there is a requirement for face-to-face practical training in the STCW Code" (MCA).

MIN 643's delivery table is more specific:

• Can be done online (MCA): PSSR, Security Awareness (PSA), Designated Security Duties (PDSD)
• Cannot be done online: PST, FP&FF, Elementary First Aid

That's why PSA is so often done online. Fully online BST bundles do exist: one Palau-approved course sells for €315 on STCW Direct, and its own listing says holders can't be assigned fire-fighting or abandon-ship duties. That's a hard sell to a captain running a small crew, and the MCA won't accept PST, FP&FF or first aid done through a laptop.

In the US, blended courses split the work: theory online, then in-person practical days. Seven Seas Preparatory Academy in Fort Lauderdale, for example, runs a blended BST with 2 days of hands-on fire fighting, survival and first aid practicals (STCW Direct listing), and says it carries the same approval as its 5-day course.

Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting has to be done in person: the MCA won't accept an online course for it. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard, public domain.

Do you need STCW for yacht jobs?

Yes. In practice the industry baseline for working on a superyacht is STCW BST plus a valid ENG1 (or an accepted equivalent), and that includes daywork. Captains hiring dayworkers for a week of varnishing or a busy turnaround will still ask to see both.

If you haven't sorted your medical yet, start with our ENG1 medical certificate guide. For the full picture of entry-level roles and how hiring works, see our guide to yacht jobs.

Does it matter where you take your STCW?

Mostly no, as long as the issuing country is on the IMO "White List". The MCA accepts PST, FP&FF, EFA and PSSR certificates issued under the authority of any White List administration (MIN 643, section 4.4), and the United States is on that list. So a BST from an approved school in Fort Lauderdale is accepted on UK-flagged yachts, and vice versa.

Security certificates have slightly different rules: the MCA recognises PSA from any White List country, but PDSD only from countries it accepts for a UK Certificate of Equivalent Competency (MIN 643, sections 4.9 and 4.10). If you plan to stay in the industry and work toward MCA tickets, an MCA-approved school removes any doubt.

Pick the hub where you plan to look for work, so you can start dockwalking the day after the course ends:

• Florida: STCW courses in Fort Lauderdale
• The Med: STCW courses in Antibes

Got your STCW? Get seen by captains

Once you have your STCW Basic Safety Training and ENG1, sign up free as crew on Radius. Upload your STCW, ENG1 and CV and Radius verifies your certificates. Crew with a valid ENG1, STCW, CV and a recent check-in show up on the map for nearby captains looking for dayworkers, so you're visible without refreshing a dozen Facebook groups.

Captains and recruiters can find verified crew on radiusmarine.com.