Setting up a global system of training and certification has been a challenge, and the IMO sets the requirements which its members States have to then implement. Taking the lead in this approach is the 1978 STCW Convention and Code, as amended. This sets the international benchmark for the training and education of seafarers. The goal is to provide a systematic flow, one which brings people in – trains them, and allows them to progress. The young cadets and trainees enter the process with little or no knowledge. Without barely the knowledge to tie a knot or make a gasket, they begin to be trained and shaped.