The new directive by India DGS, issued on July 18, comes after investigations found growing cases of fraudulent Certificates of Competency (CoCs) and Certificates of Proficiency (CoPs) being issued by unauthorized agents and unapproved maritime institutes. Based on that, the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) of India has launched a major crackdown on all fake training certificates used by Indian Nationals for seafarers’ jobs both on local and foreign flagged ships.
According to report of the Investigators, “they discovered that some Recruitment and Placement Service License (RPSL) agencies lured seafarers with offers of fake STCW certificates if they agreed to sail with specific companies. These agents also offered packages including forged documents from institutes that had no real presence.”
These fake documents have led to major concerns during Flag State (FS) and Port State Control (PSC) inspections, where ships were found to have crew members sailing on fake certificates. In response, Indian authorities have already confiscated several such documents issued by foreign bodies.
According to the DGS, some Indian seafarers working as ratings were promised upgrades to higher positions in exchange for fake documents issued by questionable foreign administrations. The D.G. Shipping regulation limits approved foreign credentialing to the flag states of Malaysia, UAE, South Korea, Sweden, the Commonwealth countries and Iran. While leaving out the biggest flags like Panama, the Marshall Islands and Liberia.
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