Seafarers Electronic Certificates

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

C24048 | 05 September 2024

This Circular is issued to advise that the IMO Maritime Safety Committee at its 107th session (31 May to 09 June 2023) approved the Guidelines on the use of electronic certificates of seafarers which are provided as an Annex to MSC.1/Circ.1665.

Key points are : 

Administrations should provide for the verification of electronic certificates of seafarers by all intended parties, this includes access to appropriate data stored remotely (e.g. on a server). Seafarers should hold the minimum required data on board, necessary to initiate a verification procedure, which should be defined by the Administration.

Verification may be obtained through:

• an application,
• approved stored data,
• approved unique tracking number,
• approved seafarer identification number,
• Quick Response (QR) code,
• any combination of the above items, or
• whatever is deemed suitable and approved by the Administration.

The unique tracking number and other data for verification should always be available.

Administrations should provide instructions for verifying electronic certificates, including confirmation of periodic endorsements.

Administrations that use electronic certificates should ensure that these certificates have the following features:

• validity and consistency in line with the format and content required by the relevant international regulations, as applicable;
• be protected from edits, modifications, or revisions other than those authorized by the Administration;
• be provided with a unique tracking number and other data used for verification as defined in paragraphs 3.3 and 3.4, respectively; and
• be provided with a visible confirmation of the source of issuance.

Act now

Ship Owners, Managers, Operators, Surveyors, and Auditors should familiarise themselves with the contents of the Guidelines and be guided accordingly.