The medical
What an AMSA STCW medical actually involves.
The examination that establishes whether you are medically fit to perform your duties at sea, required under Marine Order 76 and the international STCW Convention.
Make sure this is the medical you need.
AMSA runs two separate medical schemes, and they are not interchangeable. Booking the wrong one costs an appointment and a fee, and it is the most common expensive mistake in this area.
The STCW stream applies to seafarers on regulated Australian vessels and to licensed pilots. It uses AMSA form 232, the medical examination report, and AMSA form 303, the Certificate of Medical Fitness. Only an AMSA approved medical inspector may perform it. This is the medical this website books.
The near coastal domestic stream applies to domestic commercial vessel crew. It uses a different form and a different standard, and any registered medical practitioner may perform it.
Marlu Health provides both. This website and its booking form cover the STCW medical only, so if it is the near coastal medical you need, ring the clinic rather than booking here.
If you are not certain which your role requires, check with your employer or your training provider before you book.
Important
An AMSA certificate is not an ENG1 or an OGUK medical
An ENG1 is issued under the United Kingdom’s regime by a doctor approved by the UK authority. An OGUK or OEUK medical is an offshore energy industry assessment, not a flag state certificate.
AMSA does not accept either in place of an AMSA Certificate of Medical Fitness. AMSA also requires that your first STCW certificate be examined in Australia; examination overseas is permitted only for a revalidation or an upgrade.
On the day
What the examination assesses.
The medical inspector reviews the questionnaire you completed beforehand, then assesses you against AMSA's published standards. Findings are recorded in Part B of AMSA form 232.
Vision
Distance and near vision, tested with and without any aid you use. Colour vision is screened with Ishihara plates at every assessment. The standards differ by department and by whether your role includes lookout or watchkeeping duties.
Hearing and balance
Pure tone audiometry across the speech frequencies, and a balance check. New entrants require an audiogram.
Cardiovascular
Blood pressure, pulses and circulation. AMSA requires a resting ECG for applicants aged 55 and over, and a stress ECG where it is clinically indicated.
Respiratory
Lung function testing, with defined thresholds that trigger a closer look. A chest X-ray is required for a first AMSA medical, and otherwise only where there is a relevant history or it is clinically indicated.
Urinalysis
A dipstick test for glucose, protein and blood.
Physical capability
Whether you can move safely around a vessel and through hatches, and move quickly in an emergency. AMSA notes that most lifting tasks at sea are 25 kg or below.
General medical history
Including dental fitness, because there is no dental treatment aboard a vessel beyond temporary pain relief. Also neurological, psychiatric, endocrine and skin health, medication, alcohol and other drugs.
This is a general description of what AMSA’s standards cover. What is assessed in your case depends on your role, your department and your medical history. It is not a substitute for advice from a medical practitioner.
Outcomes
The three possible results, stated plainly.
This is the question applicants most want answered and most often cannot find. AMSA form 303 gives the medical inspector exactly three declarations to choose between, and these are them.
Fit
The declaration records that you are not suffering from a medical condition likely to be aggravated by service at sea, likely to render you unfit for it, or likely to endanger the health of others on board.
Fit with restrictions
The assessment supports some duties but not others, and the restriction is written on the certificate itself. The form records restrictions against duties, against a location or vessel, and against a medical requirement, including tick boxes for wearing corrective lenses for distance or near vision.
Unfit
The assessment does not support fitness for duties at sea. The certificate records the details and the action taken, and where the reason is something that can be treated or investigated the inspector sets when the assessment is reviewed again. On an unfit certificate the expiry field carries the date of examination rather than a future date.
Please read
No outcome can be promised
Whether a Certificate of Medical Fitness can be issued is determined by the examining medical inspector, assessed against AMSA’s standards. No clinic can guarantee a result, and any provider that implies otherwise is not being straight with you.
How long the certificate lasts.
Under Marine Order 76, a Certificate of Medical Fitness may be issued for up to 24 months. It may be issued for up to 12 months if you are under 18, or aged 55 or over, at the date of assessment.
It may also be issued for a shorter period where a re-examination is needed to assess whether a treatment continues to be effective. The period of review is set by the examining medical inspector, and where it is shorter than the maximum the certificate itself should state the reason.
Where the determination is unfit, the expiry field on the certificate carries the date of examination rather than a future date. A certificate is still issued and you still leave with it.
If a certificate expires during a voyage, Marine Order 76 provides that it continues in force until the earlier of the next port where an examiner is available, or three months after expiry. That happens automatically as a matter of law. It is not an extension you apply for.
If you disagree with a determination.
Marine Order 76 provides a pathway for a person assessed as unfit, or fit for particular duties only, in consecutive assessments, to arrange an assessment by an expert panel. The panel comprises an occupational physician, a specialist physician or surgeon, and a medical inspector. It must be approved by AMSA, and the applicant bears the cost.
Marlu Health cannot promise that a determination will be changed. What we can do is make sure your request reaches the right people, and that you understand which pathway applies to your situation.
Practically
What the appointment is like.
Allow 90 minutes in total and arrive 15 minutes early. This is a full assessment rather than a short consultation.
The inspector reviews the questionnaire you completed beforehand, works through the assessment, and reaches a determination. You leave with your Certificate of Medical Fitness on the day, recording whichever determination was reached.
Where the inspector needs further information, a report or a test before a determination can be made, you are told that on the day along with what is needed and what happens next.
It happens at one of three Perth clinics. Which practitioner attends which location is not published, and it does not change the assessment.
Important
A first AMSA medical needs a chest X-ray first
AMSA requires one for anyone entering the maritime industry for the first time, which its standards also call a pre-sea medical. It is performed off site, and Marlu Health issues the referral and helps you book it.
It has to happen at least 3 business days before the appointment, because the assessment cannot proceed without the result.
Before your appointment
Complete your forms
Two documents must be finished before you attend. This is the most common reason an appointment cannot go ahead.
Bring the right identification
An original passport or Australian driver licence. An overseas licence is not accepted.
Check the fees
Published in full, including the chest X-ray required for a first AMSA medical.