Competency courses prepare officers for a certificate of competency examination. Typically 3 months.
MEO Class IV is the first engineer certificate of competency, taken after pre-sea training and cadet sea service. It covers marine machinery and systems, engineering knowledge, electrical and control systems, and safety and management to the standard of the DG Shipping examinations.
MEO Class IV — watchkeeping engineer.
Approved pre-sea training and the required workshop and sea service.

Approvals and durations as published by DG Shipping, and the duration can differ between institutes. Fees and batch dates are set by the institute.