The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 30.12.2022 No. 1499 "Some Issues of Assigning Ranks to Officers of Seagoing Ships" has already been brought into effect introducing the following changes:
Digitalization of processes are set in motion, what makes it impossible for the third-party to access the unified State Register of Seafarers' Documents. This, in turn, prevents corruption risks by minimizing the influence of the human factor;
The State Qualification Commission (SQC), created directly for the purpose of implementation of the new system of training, will be in charge of examination of seafarers. It will be composed of competent maritime experts, the information about whom will be published on the website https://marad.gov.ua;
A seafarer can apply for qualification documents through the Diia Portal;
A comprehensive list of reasons for refusal to issue documents to seafarers has been established. At the same time, the above-mentioned Resolution provides for the possibility of not only judicial appeal of SQC decisions, but also administrative appeal: by filing a complaint to the relevant Appeal Commission. In addition, the seafarer will have the right to be present during the meeting of the Appeal Commission, which will review the judgment of the SQC being appealed against;
The professional competence of seafarers will be verified by means of the globally recognized CES test instead of the discredited AST test that was used before;
The outdated ranks and terms are eliminated (such as Master of the short voyage navigation/Master Mariner, the term "short voyage", and other terms that did not comply with the STCW Convention). Instead of "short voyage" the following terms are introduced: deep sea voyages and near coastal voyages. Apart from that, the ranks of officers are now updated in accordance with the requirements of STCW Convention.
It means that:
these changes will remove an extra step that slowed down the entire process of seafarers' training and certification;
the procedure for training and certification of seafarers will become simple and transparent;
the amendments bring the Ukrainian seafarers' certification system closer to international standards.
"We understand the responsibility assigned to us and express our gratitude for the trust. This decision required significant work and political will. Those who hinder these changes in every possible way are wasting their time and resources. I am glad that the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine took into account the interests of seafarers in the Resolution. I promise that we will continue to keep ourselves as open as possible for communication with seafarers," Yevhenii Ihnatenko, Head of the Shipping Administration, stated.