I currently have a 3/M license. I attended a maritime academy and sailed for a little while. I’m currently working on land right now and I’m curious about foreign flag ships and the license process. I’ve been doing some research on an off about this kinda stuff and I’m curious about how difficult it would be to obtain a foreign CoC. Anybody know anything about this? I’ve poked around on a lot of foreign maritime authority websites for Singapore, Bahamas, Panama, Marshall Islands and Liberia. I don’t think Hong Kong permits U.S. merchant mariners to obtain their CoC. But, the way that I understand it is if all of these countries are signatory to the IMO conventions (like the U.S.) then U.S. mariners can obtain foreign certificate of competencies and sail on foreign ships, but just depends on the hiring protocol of a foreign shipping company. Anybody have any insight into this? I’m just curious. Please don’t castigate me for my interest in this - I’m just curious. After all, shipping is a “global” industry.
[QUOTE=Red.Right.Return;169622] I’ve been doing some research on an off about this kinda stuff and I’m curious about how difficult it would be to obtain a foreign CoC.[/QUOTE]
All it takes is an email to the maritime authority of the nation whose certificate you are interested in. Most of them have a web site where they describe the process in detail, it doesn’t take a great deal of “research” to find the facts.
In many cases you do not need a CoC since you already have one, you need a CeC, a certificate of equivalent competency, or simpler yet, an “endorsement” that permits you to sail under their flag in a position based on your underlying certificate.