Fake seafarer documentation remains a concern

A maritime fraud crisis

The International Maritime Organisation’s Sub-Committee on Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping (HTW) issued a report at the beginning of the month outlining more than 100 documented cases of fraudulent seafarer documentation reported over from 2024 to the end of January this year.

The HTW document catalogues fraudulent certificate detections across multiple flag states, painting a troubling picture of systematic credential forgery affecting the global maritime workforce.

The overwhelming majority of fraudulent certificates were detected through email verification with issuing authorities which appears to be the primary defence against credential fraud.

Analysis of which countries' credentials were most frequently forged reveals concerning patterns. The top five countries that the fake documents claimed to be issued by represented almost 75% of all the cases.

COUNTRY	#	%
Honduras	33	26,8
Cook Islands	21	17
Panama	19	15,5
Myanmar	11	8,9
Croatia	5	4,1
Ireland	4	3,3
Sri Lanka	4	3,3
Ukraine	4	3,3
Russia	3	2,5
Georgia	2	1,6
Tanzania	2	1,6
Australia	1	0,8
Egypt	1	0,8
Ethiopia	1	0,8
Ghana	1	0,8
Greece	1	0,8
Guyana	1	0,8
India	1	0,8
Indonesia	1	0,8
Jamaica	1	0,8
Mexico	1	0,8
Philippines	1	0,8
Romania	1	0,8
Spain	1	0,8
Tonga	1	0,8

Almost 60% of the reported cases related to Certificates of Competency while a further 30% related to Certificates of Proficiency. Fraudulent Seamans Books represented the remaining 10% of cases. Multiple cases involved fake certificates for oil, chemical, and liquefied gas tanker operations – positions requiring specialised training for risky operations.

The document submitted by the HTW Sub-committee highlights that the list may not represent the full extent of fraudulent activity and encourages more robust reporting from Member States.