Candidates for the Certificate of Competency must enter this 6 month course, and complete this course following graduation from the Faculty of Maritime Sciences. On-board sea training is conducted by experienced marine officers and engineers of the National Institute for Sea Training. This includes 5 training ships, including the world famous fully rigged sailing ships Nippon Maru and Kaiwo Maru. There are also one steam turbine ship, Taisei Maru; and two diesel engine ships, Ginga Maru and Seiun Maru.
After completion of this course and passing a physical and an oral examination (at this stage there being no written examination) successful graduates will receive the Certificate of Competency, the 3rd Grade Maritime Officer (Navigation or Engineering).