Seagoing service

As a seafarer, you are responsible for recording your seagoing service before applying for certificates. Here, you can read more about seagoing service and find guidelines for how to record your seagoing service.

What is seagoing service?

Seagoing service is the period for which you have signed on board a ship as a seafarer. Seagoing service is used as the basis for the issuance of certificates of competency and certificates of proficiency.

You can record and document your seagoing services on our Self-service

You can also use our app, My Maritime

You must log on by means of NemID. Foreign seafarers and others not having a NemID can log in by means of a user name/password. Subsequently, you need to contact the Danish Maritime Authority by telephone, +45 72 19 60 15 or e-mail bevis@dma.dk, in order to have your information connected to your user profile.

Shipowners are no longer obliged to report the signing on and signing off of seafarers. Seagoing service that has been reported by shipowners will be listed in your overview.

If the seagoing service does not figure on your overview, the Danish Maritime Authority has not received a report. Therefore, you must type in any missing periods of service – compare with your discharge book/record of seagoing service.

Your seagoing service is recorded in days. The seagoing service counts as one day, regardless if you have been signed on for 2 hours or 12 hours.
An example: You sign on on 1st of August and sign off on 15th of August. You have 15 days seagoing service, regardless of what time of the day you have signed on and off.

You can report each individual signing on and off or for a total period. If you record your seagoing service for a total period, you yourself must state the effective seagoing service in days.

You may choose not to report your seagoing service until immediately prior to an application for a new certificate.

It is important, that you report and document your seagoing service, before you apply. This way we can issue your certificate quickly.

Seagoing service is recorded on our self-service or via the app.

Once recorded, you can document the seagoing service right away, or request a digital seagoing service declaration (fartstidserklæring).

​Go to self-service

Accepted documentation is also a picture/copy of your discharge book.
In our app, My Maritime, you can quickly take a picture of your discharge book and uploade it, when you complete your record.

The digital seagoing service declaration is the easiest and fastest way to collect a declaration from your employer.

You can find videoguide both in self-service and the app.

When you record seagoing service as part of your education, it is important that you use the correct position title.

  • Students on the Master Mariner, Master Mariner (Restricted) and Master Mariner (Home trade) programmes must use “Deck Cadet”.
  • Dual students must use “Dual Cadet”.
  • Students on the Marine Engineer and Maritime Technology programmes must use “Engine Cadet”.

If you use a Discharge Book or a Seagoing Service Statement as documentation of your seagoing service, make sure the correct position is entered.

When you as a navigator need seagoing service, to obtain and maintain your evidence, the seagoing service must be in ships of 20 GT or more. In addition, it is essential whether the ship operates in near coastal waters or world wide.
 
The highest level of certificate as a navigator, master, is obtained by either 36 months of seagoing service as watchkeeping officer, or, 24 months, of which 12 are obtained as chief mate. In this context, only seagoing service on ships of 500 GT is qualifying.

When you as an engineer need seagoing service, to obtain and maintain your evidence, the seagoing service must be in ships with a propulsion effect of 750 kW or more.
 
The highest level of certificate as an engineer, chief engineer, is obtained by either 36 months of seagoing service as engineer in ships with a propulsion effect of 750 kW or more, or, 24 months, of which 12 are obtained as second engineer in ships with a propulsion effect of 3000 kW or more.

When you record seagoing service as part of your education, and during your career as ship's assistant afterwards, it is important that you use the correct position title.

  • As Ordinary ship's assistant you must use the position with the same title.
  • Once you have sufficient seagoing service and certificate issued as Able ship's assistant, you must use the position with the same title.

If you use a Discharge Book or a Seagoing Service Statement as documentation of your seagoing service, make sure the correct position is entered.

Seagoing service is qualifying regardless of whether it is obtained in Danish or foreign ships. However, there are some practical differences.
 
When you record your seagoing service, you can not search and find foreign ships, you will have to enter the ship's information yourself. This is because the Danish Maritime Authority does not have a register of foreign ships.
 
When you apply for certificates of where your seagoing service in foreign ships must qualify, you may be asked for additional documentation about the ship, for example the ship's Minimum Safe Manning.

This is to ensure that the seagoing service obtained onboard that ship qualifies for the certificate applied for.

Frequently asked questions on seagoing service (FAQ)

Below we will try to answer some of the questions we are regularly asked regarding seagoing service.

Foreign seafarers and others without NemID can log in with a username / password.

Without NemID, automatic access cannot be granted.
Therefore, after creating a username / password, you must contact the Danish Maritime Authority on telephone +45 72 19 60 15 or e-mail  bevis@dma.dk to have your information linked to your user profile.

In case of incorrect seagoing service, you are to write an email to bevis@dma.dk, stating the incorrect seagoing service and attaching documentation of the correct seagoing service; subsequently, your seagoing service will be corrected by an employee at the Danish Maritime Authority.

In connection with future email enquiries, please leave out sensitive information, such as your social security number, since the internet connection is not encrypted. However, if you do submit documentation containing your social security number, please cover the last four digits.

If you have recorded seagoing service on a Danish ship, you might experience that the ships name changes, after you have served on it.
 
The seagoing service you record is connected to the ship in the Danish Ship Register, in our system.

This means that if the ship is renamed, it will also change the name in your records.

If you are a pilot at a pilotage, you can maintain your certificate as a navigator. This presupposes that you have a valid Danish pilot certificate, or an equivalent foreign certificate.
 
365 pilot days (365 calendar days where pilotage has been carried out on board a ship) are required within the last 5 years.
 
If you are employed by a Danish pilotage company, the Danish Maritime Authority has information on the status of your pilot certificate and your completed pilotages in Danish waters and to Danish ports.
If not, this part of your application for a certificate of competency will require your documentation for certification and pilotage.
 
It is not possible to upgrade a certificate of competency solely on the basis of pilotage. You can only have your current certificate renewed.

When it comes to seagoing service on offshore units, a distinction is made between whether the unit has its own propulsion or not. 
 
By offshore units without own propulsion is meant drilling rigs, drilling platforms, jack-ups and the like.
  • If you serve on an offshore unit without own propulsion, the seagoing service cannot be equated with the seagoing service on a merchant ship.
 But,
  • If a certificate of competency is required for the position on board, the seagoing service will normally be equated with service on a merchant ship.
In both cases, it will be decisive which position the seagoing service is obtained in, and depend on an individual assessment of the case.
In most cases, additional documentation will be required, i.e. Minimum Safe Manning or an employer declaration.

In addition, you should be aware that service in offshore units without own propulsion is not included in the upgrade of certificates.

When it comes to seagoing service on offshore units, a distinction is made between whether the unit has its own propulsion or not. 
 
By offshore units with own propulsion is meant drilling vessels, FPSO and the like.
  • If you serve on an offshore unit with own propulsion, the seagoing service will normally be equated with service on a merchant ship.
It will be decisive which position the seagoing service is obtained in, and depend on an individual assessment of the case.
 
In most cases, additional documentation will be required, i.e. Minimum Safe Manning or an employer declaration.

Contact

Certificates
Seafarers, Certification and Social Affairs
+45 72 19 60 15