In recent years, the development of low flash point fueled vessels (LNG fueled vessels) has been progressing for the purpose of preventing air pollution. At the same time, the abilities and training requirements of seafarers on boarding to low flash point fueled vessel have also been verified. Taking into account the above circumstances, Basic / Advanced training for service on ships subject to the International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (hereinafter, this is called “IGF”) Code were launched in Japan in 2018.

Thus, new fuels such as methanol and LPG fuel have recently been attracting attention and being developed as bridge fuels. Methanol fueled vessels were delivered in Japan at the end of 2024, and LPG fueled vessels are also being developed. Therefore, last year we implemented the incorporation of new fuels into IGF training.

I report on a method to incorporate new fuels into conventional LNG fuel training as follows:

・The training contents are in based on STCW A-5-3, but it is important to omit the parts that overlap with LNG and add explanation to the important part of each fuels;

・Regardless of LPG / Methanol and Basic / Advanced training, the items that differ from LNG fuel are about 40% of the current training, so there is no need to make any major changes to the current training framework;

・Important items are “safety measures”, “machinery operation”, and “bunkering” based on the characteristics of each fuels; and

・This method will also be effective for Hydrogen and Ammonia fuels that will appear in the future.