DG Shipping India Further Extends The Validity Of Seafarers’ and Ships’ Certificates

Due to Coronavirus, DG Shipping India has taken the following decisions to assist the seafarers and Ship owners.

A major relief for the Indian seafarers has been announced by DG Shipping as “All STCW certificates (includes the training certificates i.e., certificates required under Chapter VI of STCW) and associated endorsements issued by the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) which are expiring between 1st March and 31st December 2020 (both dates inclusive), shall stand extended for a period of 6 (six) months from the expiry date printed/typed on the relevant certificate (COC/COP/COE), irrespective of whether the seafarer is/was on ship at the time of expiry or not.”

Notably, earlier the extension of the validity of the certificates was valid only for the seafarers who are on ship, but as per the latest DGS Order 13 of 2020, this extension will also be applicable for the seafarers not on ship.

Some important extracts for the Indian seafarers from DGS Order 13 of 2020 are as follows:

• Addendum No. 2 to DGS Order 6 of 2020 is regarding extension of survey/ audits/ inspections, beyond what is permitted by various IMO conventions, only for those ships, where surveys/inspections/audits are falling due on or before June 30th 2020.
  

  ---

• The seafarers may make a request for re-validation of certificates to the respective MMDs, once the lockdown is lifted.
  

  ---

• Further, whenever the re-validation of the expired certificate is to be carried out, the new validity shall be issued for a period of five years from the original certificate expiry date.
  

  ---

• Notwithstanding above, the candidate’s should not wait for the expiry of the extension period granted and should endeavour to get his CoC revalidated after completing the online / offline courses, as applicable to their CoC at the earliest opportunity.
  

  ---

The DGS Order 13 of 2020 also extends the continuation of provisions related to extensions and waiver of processing fees and extension of surveys/audits/inspections beyond what is permitted by various IMO conventions, only for those ships, where survey/inspection/audit are falling due on or before 30th June 2020.

You can access the DGS Order 13 of 2020 by clicking here