Proficiency in Survival Craft

AMSA Requirements:

Learners need to provide evidence of completing a Basic Safety Training STCW Reg VI/1 within the last 5 years:

• Certificate of Safety Training (COST) or Certificate of Safety Training Continued Competence
• 6 months sea service on vessels carrying survival equipment suitable for use on SOLAS vessels.

Evidence of the above must be provided to ERGT Australia for verification before course commencement.

Learners who do not hold the above and wish to enroll in the Proficiency in Survival Craft course should contact ERGT prior to enrolling. 

The minimum age to undertake this course is 18 years

ERGT Australia's Proficiency in Survival Craft course is delivered across 4- days at a purpose-built marine safety training facility. Training is delivered first 2-days and our Perth Training centre in Jandakot followed by 2-days at our Fremantle training annex. This course combines facilitator-led instruction with substantial daily practical time, and learners should expect to spend significant portions of each day in water, in survival craft, and operating survival equipment in realistic emergency scenarios. Learners will need to bring swimwear and a towel for in-water activities.

The course builds progressively across four days — from foundational knowledge of survival craft systems and STCW requirements through to in-water exercises, equipment operations, and fully integrated emergency abandonment scenarios. Facilitators are experienced maritime safety practitioners who will brief learners clearly before each practical activity.

Assessment is performance-based across all four days.

Learner Support

ERGT Australia is committed to providing a training environment where every learner can engage fully and safely. The following support is available across three areas.

Physical Support

Learners with an injury, physical limitation, or health condition that may affect their ability to participate in in-water exercises or survival craft operations are encouraged to declare this at registration. ERGT Australia will work with you to identify reasonable adjustments where possible. Some practical tasks — including in-water survival exercises, liferaft righting, and survival craft launch and recovery — have non-negotiable safety requirements that cannot be modified; where this is the case, ERGT Australia will advise you clearly before the course begins. No medical certificate is required, but a health questionnaire and declaration of fitness must be completed at registration.

Psychological Support

Learners who are concerned about in-water activities, open-water conditions, or the intensity of emergency abandonment scenarios are encouraged to contact ERGT Australia before enrolment. Facilitators provide thorough pre-activity briefings before each practical exercise and are experienced in supporting learners through the physical and psychological demands of survival craft training. Learners may speak with their facilitator at any time if they are finding a particular activity challenging. No learner will be required to continue an activity that poses a genuine risk to their psychological safety.

Cognitive Support

This course covers a wide range of interconnected survival craft knowledge and practical skills — systems, equipment operation, launch and recovery procedures, survivor management, signalling, and first aid — that must be applied reliably under the conditions of a realistic emergency abandonment scenario. To support learners across four days, ERGT Australia structures delivery progressively: foundational knowledge and equipment familiarisation first, before moving to individual skill practice and then integrated emergency scenarios. Facilitators use consistent terminology and step-by-step demonstration before each practical activity, and scenario exercises build from individual competencies toward fully coordinated vessel abandonment situations. Post-exercise debriefs reinforce learning and address areas for improvement. Learners who need additional time with a particular skill or procedure are encouraged to speak with their facilitator.