The Professional Yachting Association (PYA) and the Italian Yacht Masters Association (IYM) sound the alarm on a hidden danger: a surge in unqualified crew with fake or purchased Certificates of Competence, which raises potential safety issues for crew, passengers, and vessels.

It is also in the best personal interests of all crew not to waste money on any CoC which is not recognised by the major Flag states in yachting. The same principle applies to any type of training course (deck, engineering or interior) which is not accredited by the rigorous requirements of national educational establishments, or the industry-driven IAMI accredited GUEST courses, which exercises rigorous requirements in both its prerequisite regulations and educational standards.

While there are procedures in place to identify fraudulent licenses - Flag states such as MCA (UK Maritime Coastguard Agency) and TM (Transport Malta) can denounce any fraudulent tickets they encounter - there are still loopholes. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) maintains a "White List" of countries that meet strict minimum training and certification standards for seafarers (STCW).

Holders of a CoC (Certificate of Competency - license) from a non-white list country will most likely be denied a Certificate of Equivalency, they will likely be rejected as a viable manning solution for white list flagged vessels, and their sea time and training may either be highly scrutinised or not accepted at all towards a CoC from a white list country.

The PYA and IYM urge all yacht crew, managers, recruiters, and insurers to only accept white list CoCs to ensure the safety and legitimacy of your yachting operation.

The IMO White List is available here:

https://gisis.imo.org/Public/STCW/CertificateRecognition.aspx

and here: https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/OurWork/HumanElement/Documents/MSC.1-Circ.1163-Rev.12.pdf

Or you can consult with high-quality Flag states directly.

For more information, feel free to reach out to srb@pya.org 

The PYA and the IYM