- DG Shipping India issued show-cause notices to 3,762 candidates who were found to have been obtaining fake maritime certificates.
- IMA has granted a one-time amnesty scheme for those seafarers found to be holding fake qualification certificates.
- The period for debarment announced earlier for these fake certificate-holders will end on January 31.
According to an published in Safety4sea, the Directorate-General of Shipping issued show-cause notices to 3,762 candidates who were found to have been obtaining fake maritime certificates from about five training institutes without receiving proper training.
One-time amnesty scheme
Specifically, it is reported that the Indian Maritime Administration announced an one-time amnesty scheme for those seafarers found to be holding fake qualification certificates without attending classes in what was commented to be ‘the biggest fake certificate scam yet in the country’s maritime training sector’.
It is also stated that these seafarers were also debarred from taking up jobs from July 2019, while the period for debarment announced earlier for these fake certificate-holders will end on January 31.
DG Shipping Amitabh Kumar commented that, “The amnesty has been granted on humanitarian considerations and is strictly a one-time measure. The detection of similar transgressions in the future will attract penalty of cancellation of the Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) and debarment of up to 5 years.“
To be banned
Furthermore, the Directorate highlights that any candidate who has been granted amnesty is found taking part in another misconduct or found holding fake documents or certificates under the Merchant Shipping Act will be banned for life.
Kumar added that, “We don’t intend to give any reprieve to the training institutes or to the administrators who were involved in this racket and we will go out of the way to make sure that such institutes are removed from the Indian maritime ecosystem. Moreover, the institutes, promoters, the principals and the course in-charge that were found to be involved in the case or may be found in the future to be involved will not receive amnesty.“
Verification in progress
In the meantime, the withdrawal of approvals in respect of these institutes, blacklisting of their promoters, withdrawal of continuous discharge certificates and certificate of competency of the principals and course in-charge are under progress.
The penal action by the administration, supported by the unions, is also blacklisting for life promoters of these institutes from maritime training and other activities in relation to DG shipping.
Those who repeated the training and received official certificates will apply for restoration of their e-migrate facility and the same shall be restored within 10 working days.
On the other hand, those who have not repeated the training can do so within six months, from February 1, and apply for restoration of their e-migrate facility, and the same shall be restored within 10 days after receipt of their applications.
Grace period provided
The statement alerts that any other seafarers, except the 3,762, who wish to surrender their fake certificate to the DG Shipping can do so and repeat the training until July 31, 2020, with no debarment.
Yet, the facility will not be available after July 31, meaning that those that will surrender after this date will attract debarment in accordance with Merchant Shipping Rules.
Also, Kumar noted that, “This is because the certificates issued by India have great value globally because of the quality of training. The fake certificate racket was a big setback for us, that the certificate issued by the Indian system was below the quality and standard for which the country was renowned. So, it was critical for us to clamp down on this at an early stage itself and it was in the interest of the seafarers. However, taking very strong action against candidates would have meant the end of a budding career.“
Kumar concluded that DG Shipping’s steps taken were crucial to maintaining the credibility of the Indian training system.
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Source: Safety4sea
