seafarer certification fraud

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The Dieselduck
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seafarer certification fraud

Post by The Dieselduck »

Nautilus urges UK to tackle seafarer certification fraud
Friday 14 June 2013, 15:10, by Liz McMahon

WITH seafarer certification fraud as rife as ever,the UK government has been urged to raise the issue with the International Maritime Organization to press large flag states to behave more responsibly.

In a letter to shipping minister Stephen Hammond, Nautilus International director of campaigns and communications Andrew Linington asked for improvements in the enforcement processes and questioned how checks to verify certification could be made more effective.

He also called for the UK to use the IMO as a vehicle to ask major flag states, specifically naming Panama, to tackle the problem of fraudulent certification.

Lloyd’s List has exclusively reported on an investigation launched into fraudulent certification in the maritime security sector. It is not known how far the investigation, which uncovered a forging factory in Wales, will extend but experts think fraud of this kind is an international epidemic.

Although this fraud has only just come to light in a fledgling industry, Mr Linington said seafarer certification fraud has been an issue for too long and, unlike maritime security fraud, had already had dire consequences.

He warned that without a significant change in policy, there will be more preventable accidents.

In the letter, Mr Linington referred to the recent Marine Accident Investigation Branch report on the grounding of the feeder containership Coastal Isle on the Isle of Bute last July which, he said, filled him with horror.

The MAIB report points out that there were 16 similar accidents around the UK coast between 199-2011. Mr Linington said it was clear that this incident could have been far more serious than it was.

He pointed out to Mr Hammond that this was the second MAIB report in a week to highlight poor standards on foreign-flagged ships operating in UK waters.

The investigation into the grounding of the cargoship Carrier pointed to a wide range of problems — including shortcomings in the application of the Port Marine Safety Code — and identified the Polish master’s inability to understand English phrases used in the Met Office shipping forecast as a critical factor.

Mr Linington said both reports mentioned the large number of foreign-flagged, foreign-crewed ships operating around the UK coast and the challenges this presented for regulation and enforcement.

Although the Carrier report recommended a simplification of the phrases used in the shipping forecasts, the Coastal Isle investigation concluded that, to ensure the navigational safety of such vessels, “…it is imperative they are manned by competent crew members” and it referred to the need for increased vigilance when checking seafarers’ certificates for authenticity.

Like MAIB, Mr Linington also acknowledged that, given their workload, it is unrealistic to place all the responsibility for verifying seafarers’ certificates on port state control inspectors.

“The Costal Isle case is deeply disturbing and I believe the MAIB is correct to make the point in its report, and that on the Carrier, about the safety challenges created by the very significant number of foreign ships operating in UK waters,” Mr Linington said.

He said it was unjust that the UK had to bear the additional costs involved in attempting to enforce standards on ships registered with flags that so “dismally abrogate their responsibilities”.

Coastal Isle was Panama-flagged.

Mr Linington wrote: “I am sure you will be aware of the long history of fraudulent certification associated with Panama, and the MAIB is to be applauded for expressing its alarm that a flag state responsible for almost one-quarter of the world fleet was not aware that its employees were actively involved in the issue of fraudulent qualifications.”

The Department for Transport had not responded to Lloyd’s List’s request for a comment at the time of going to press.

Article from Lloyd's List
http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/sector/reg ... 424488.ece
Published: Friday 14 June 2013
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by JK »

I wonder how bad it is in Canada. TC has changed the certificate format, a couple of times in the last few years, so it must be happening.
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by JollyJack »

Not a lot, there are many requests for verification of Canadian CoCs from employers and prospective employers. International employers, who employ many Canadian seafarers, can verify CoCs at the IMO.org portal with a direct link to Ottawa and get a reply the same day. (weekdays, that is) Canadian employers can, and do, verify CoCs at the local TCMS office. The national database, which is available at all offices nationwide, can be accessed all across Canada. The last fraudster I know of got 8 months when he was convicted under the Criminal Code. TC and the RCMP agreed that RCMP would prosecute, penalties under the Criminal Code are more severe than those under CSA 201.

It's very difficult to get away with a phoney CoC in Canada, all it takes is for an employer or Union to ask for verification.
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by JK »

Thanks!
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by offshoresnipe »

I think we might have a fake one in our engine room dept., he is a expert in everything but our equipment.
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by The Dieselduck »

Yup, I think I worked with that guy, once....
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by jimmys »

A few years ago when work was not a four letter word, I was the weekend engineer and ship surveyor in the West of Scotland on standby over the weekend. I was called out by a Clyde Pilot to a small super tanker he suspected had no astern power. The vessel was fully laden and bound for a terminal on the Clyde. The terminal was adjacent to Faslane Submarine base and Glen Douglas NATO Terminal. The Pilot had managed to berth with tug assistance at the terminal layby berth.
I attended the vessel its engine would not go astern.
In discussion with the Chief Engineer I discovered the equipment had failed in Brass RIver, Nigeria and the vessel had sailed to UK with no astern power. It was necessary to repair but to satisfy refinery requirements we repaired temporary with hand reverse on the engine a large bore diesel then full repair later.
During this incident the Master of the vessel disappeared. I had his certificate in my possession it was Greek. It looked genuine I had seen a lot of them. I checked with the Greek Administration and it seemed genuine. Number, date, all in order. Later I was informed the holder of this certificate had not left Greek waters for 5 years and was 70 years old.
The certificate was sent to the Greek Administration and it was described as a clone. The Greek Surveyor had both certificates on his desk and could not tell them apart. Forensic work proved the forgery due to ink differences, the ink was Indian. How many forgeries from this we did not know.
The Master had bought a train/ferry ticket from Glasgow via Stranraear to Belfast. Then bus to Dublin and another flight to goodness knows where , we did not know what name he was using. It was open border both sides of the water and the South was a different country.
Its not Canadian certificates or Panamanian or Liberians they forge, but front line, top quality Greek Masters and they are not questioned.
The Greek Master had fought in the war and was well known in Greece.

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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by Wyatt »

Jolly jack, it worries me when you post "Not a lot". What is "A lot?" When it comes to certification fraud, and all the hoops we must go through to keep our certificates valid, this is not really a blow to my confidence in our system. I know of situations where a lower certificate was used in place of the required higher certificate, and you cannot tell me that this is happening less and less. There is a certificate shortage and these fake certs. will undoubtedly start, if they haven't all ready, to show their unwelcome faces shortly.
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by JollyJack »

" I know of situations where a lower certificate was used in place of the required higher certificate, and you cannot tell me that this is happening less and less"

This is a Safe Manning issue Wyatt. Yes, it is happening in the race to the bottom for cheaper and cheaper crews. There are nowhere nearly enough TC Inspectors to come anywhere close to checking all crews for valid Certificates and inspecting all vessels for seaworthiness. TC will pursue any infraction of the MPR, but they don't know about it if nobody tells them, or until there's an incident with the vessel. If you know of an infraction, tell someone. You can check the Marine Personnel Regulations on line here:

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regu ... -2007-115/
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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by Big Pete »

It is a very difficult subject, I have sailed with a few Engineers over the years whose Engineering "common sense" was far below what you would expect from their CV and certificates but did they have fake certificates?
I understand that when the Soviet Union broke up it was fairly easy, (In Eastern Europe) to buy genuine certificates without having to pass Exams or get Sea Time or any of that time consuming and expensive stuff.
Now there is a flood of Eastern European Senior Officers coming into World Wide Trade, some with very dubious abilities.

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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by jimmys »

I in the seventies worked for a shipping company with a big Lone Star on the funnel. We were engaged in charter to the Sun Oil Of New Jersey, we did not know who the were but we eventually found they were GovRussia. Proceed Europoort load MDO and gas oil and then Ventspils, It was a Russian Baltic States port. We were bunkering the Russian Baltic fleet. I had never seen so many ships. The fighting fleet were separate and we were servicing the support fleet. It was barges, oilers,ships of all sorts. Without exaggeration in their thousand. We were all Brits aboard, the whole crew.
In discussion with local engineers we were informed there were 10,000 and more engineers to service the fleet supply ships.
At the breakup they were mostly made redundant, a lot of certificated engineers.
We were very well treated but I never discovered the reason we were there.

The oil business

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Re: seafarer certification fraud

Post by JK »

I was in Ventspils in the 80's, apparently USSR was dumping naphtha on the world market to get currency into the country....dirty, dirty harbor, then there was the burnt out tanker on the beach....and the pimply kids with machine guns taking your passport to go ashore. At night not a light on in any of the nearby buildings, it was like a ghost town.
An eye opener for a Canadian kid.
A lot of Naval vessels further in, but nowhere near that number. The USSR ceased to exist not too long after that.

Interesting topic. I think some people stumble into the job and the seafaring life suits them, they may be not the best but just bumble along, not dangerous but trustable with some supervision. Others not so much.
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