The qualification documents of seafarers are to be issued by an official of the Shipping Administration given the entry into force of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1499 dated 30.12.2022.
After considering the application submitted by a seafarer, the State Qualification Commission for Seafarers (SQCS) determines to:
issue a qualification document to a seafarer (in case there is no reason to pass a computer exam or to refuse to issue the document in the result of document verification);
refuse to issue a qualification document (in conformity to the grounds stipulated in the Resolution No. 1499).
Currently, the only possible way to verify the validity of qualification documents is to send scanned copies thereof to the email: [email protected].
Verification of documents via email is a temporary measure until the information and communication system for the training and certification of seafarers is fully implemented. The Shipping Administration also verifies the qualification documents of seafarers, which were issued before the entry into force of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1499. To this end, the seafarer must also send scanned copies of the appropriate documents to the email: [email protected].
A response from the Shipping Administration has to be obtained thereafter confirming the validity or invalidity of the documents.
A significant part of seafarers' qualification documents submitted for verification contains distinct signs of forgery (absence of mandatory details or of the owner’s signature can be indicated as well as documents can be signed by persons with no right to sign them, etc.). This is the reason for refusing to verify the documents.
Note: There is no specified cut-off date when the documents should be sent to the Shipping Administration for verification. The applicant decides to apply if the need be.
In case a seafarer's documents being defined invalid, the Shipping Administration or the service centers "Morrichservice" can be contacted in the manner established by the Resolution No. 1499 to obtain valid qualification documents.
In case a seafarer’s documents have been received after the entry into force of the Resolution No. 1499, namely after 18.01.2023, in a way other than provided by the Resolution, the Shipping Administration has to verify the documents in any case.
A significant amount of documents that are sent for verification turn out to be invalid. In particular, the documents in question were issued after the entry into force of the Resolution No. 1499 dated 30.12.2022 in a way other than provided by the regulatory act. In particular, this is evidenced either by the ranks of the command staff indicated in the documents, which do not correspond to Resolution No. 1499, or the divergences of the document itself from the one issued by an authorized person of the Shipping Administration.
Since the beginning of the work of the SQCS as a part of the Shipping Administration, namely from 14.02.2023, the only possible procedure for submitting applications and obtaining qualification documents has been published on the official website of the Shipping Administration, which can be found at the link: https://bit.ly/3lKzTBd.
Currently, the team consisting of the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, the Shipping Administration and the USAID / UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services / TAPAS Project is working on the implementation of remote submission of relevant applications by seafarers.