Electronic Documents and Statutory Certificates on Barbadian Vessels

C23008 | 13 February 2023

Notice to: Ship Owners/ Managers/ Operators / Surveyors/ Auditors

Barbados Maritime Ship Registry issued Bulletin 023 – Electronic Documents and Statutory Certificates. Bulletin 023

1. References

a) Guidelines for the use of Electronic Certificates – FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev.2

2. Purpose

2.1 This Bulletin establishes the requirements for electronic documents issued by the BMSR. It contains information for their features, conveyance and verifications.

2.2 All the electronic certificates issued, in compliance with the IMO Facilitation Committee FAL.5/Circ.39, by the BMSR or by a Barbados Recognised Organization (RO) shall be deemed valid in accordance with all applicable international conventions and instruments to which Barbados is a Party.

2.3 A copy of this Bulletin should be placed on board Barbadian vessels to facilitate the acceptance of electronic certificates by other relevant authorities.

3. RO Statutory Certificates

3.1 Several ROs are now able to issue electronic certificates to ships in lieu of traditional paper certificates.

3.2 The use of electronic certificates is accepted by the BMSR, provided that are issued in compliance with the provisions of FAL.5/Circ.39.

4. BMSR Documents

4.1 The BMSR has now moved to full implementation of electronic documents for vessel certificates and seafarers’ documents.

4.2 The electronic documents issued by the BMSR contain all elements required by FAL.5/Circ.39.

4.3 Original hardcopy documents issued by the BMSR shall remain valid (up until the indicated expiry date) and be carried on board until they have been reissued electronically or otherwise superseded, and the new electronic certificates are available on board.

4.4 Hard copy documents may be issued in exceptional circumstances and may have either a manual signature or a scanned signature printed on the documents. Paper documents are generally printed on BMSR headed paper (with the exception of Certificates of Inspection).

4.5 All documents and certificates issued electronically by the BMSR must be able to views and printed out onboard the vessel when required.

4.6 Electronic documents are issued in Portable Document Format (PDF), and a suitable PDF viewer, such as Adobe Reader, or similar, is required to view and print the electronic documents.

4.7 Adobe Reader can be downloaded free of charge from www.Adobe.com.

5. List of Electronic Documents Issued

5.1 Provisional Certificate of Registry (COR).

5.2 Permanent Certificate of Registry (COR).

5.3 Carving and Marking Note (CMN).

5.4 Maritime Labour Certificates (MLC).

5.5 Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance (DMLC I).

5.6 Safe Manning Document (SMD).

5.7 Continuous Synopsis Record (CSR).

5.8 Ship Station Licence (SSL).

5.9 Certificate of Insurance for Civil liability for bunker oil pollution damage (Bunker Certificate).

5.10 Certificate of Insurance for Civil liability for oil pollution damage (CLC Certificate).

5.11 Certificate of Insurance or other financial security in respect of liability for the death of and personal injury to passengers (Athens Convention Certificate).

5.12 Exemptions and Dispensation (Permits).

5.13 Barbadian Authorisations of Service Prover (BASP).

5.14 Transcripts.

5.15 Officer Certificates of Receipt of Applications (CRA).

5.16 Officer Endorsements.

5.17 The list above is not exhausted of all electronic documents issued by the BMSR.

6. BMSR Document Validation

6.1 Electronic documents either in printed or electronic form may be verified online in two ways:

6.1.1 By using the Quick Response (QR) Code found in the bottom right–hand corner, or

6.1.2 Via the online BMSR Portal

6.2 For the validation of an electronic document the Documents Control Number (DCN) is located in the bottom of the document.

6.3 Once the DSN has been entered, the ‘’Document Authenticity Checked’’ page shows the details of the vessel or seafarer and on the bottom of the page the ‘’Document Expiry Date’’ (if applicable) and the ‘’Document Validity’’.

6.4 Queries regarding the validation of electronic documents may be addressed to registry@barbadosmaritime.com

7. BMSR Document Validity

7.1 When a document or a vessel is deleted from the registry, the validation of the electronic documents gives ‘’ VALIDATION FAILED: Barcode for that documents type does not exist in our system’’.

7.2 When a vessel is suspended from the registry the electronic documents still remain valid unless they have been deleted.

7.3 Withdrawn and expired electronic ‘’Document Validity’’ reads ‘’Superseded’’.

Act now

Ship Owners/ Managers/ Operators should take into consideration all the above and ensure compliance of Barbadian vessels and Surveyors/ Auditors should confirm the said compliance during surveys /audits as appropriate.