Preparing Your Ship for Operation

It is a mandatory requirement for all Singapore registered ships to be issued with a ship’s Safe Manning Document (SMD). To apply for an SMD, company can use the Annex A form to propose the minimum manning for the ship. The proposed minimum safe manning should take into account the “Principles of Minimum Safe Manning” adopted by the IMO by resolution A.1047(27) and MSC.1/Circ. 1598 on “Guidelines on Fatigue”.

Proposals based on the assessment must be submitted to MPA which, when satisfied that the proposed manning levels are adequate, will issue an SMD. The proposal can be submitted to MPA prior to the registration of the vessel for MPA’s review. An electronic copy of the SMD will be issued once the ship has been successfully registered with us.

At a glance:

• DigitalPORT@SG^TM; or

• Electronic Ship Information / Electronic Crew Change form

All companies based in Singapore which are engaged in recruiting and placing seafarers shall conform to requirements set out in the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act 2014 and the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Seafarer Recruitment and Placement Services) Regulations 2014. These standards are applicable when the seafarer recruitment and placement services are operated in, or provided from, Singapore, and include those provided for Singapore-registered and foreign-registered ships. All such SRPS are also required to apply to the Director of Marine for a Certificate of Authorisation (COA).

The fee for a COA is $100 and is valid for 3 years. For SRPS that requires both COA as well as an Employment Agency (EA) licence from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the validity of the COA will be tied to the EA licence whichever is earlier.

A shipowner[1] shall ensure that if he uses a SRPS located in a state or territory which has acceded to or ratified the Convention, that SRPS is authorised or licensed by the relevant authority in that state or territory.

  Scenarios a SRPS requires a Certificate of Authorisation

Note: In the examples above, ABC and XYZ companies are all separate legal entities

• COA is not required. ABC Company recruits and places seafarers onboard their managed ship. ABC Company is the Shipowner[1] for the ship as reflected on the MLC Certificate. ABC Company signs Seafarer Employment Agreement (SEA) with the seafarers and is the entity reflected on the SEA.

• COA is required. ABC Company recruits and places seafarers onboard third-party ships, XYZ Company. XYZ Company is the Shipowner[1] of the ship. XYZ Company signs SEA with the seafarers and is the entity reflected on the SEA.

[1]As defined in 2(1), Part I of the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act 2014 – in relation to a ship, means the owners, and includes the registered owner, or in the absence of registration, the person owning the ship or any other person such as the ship manager, agent or bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners in accordance with the Maritime Labour Convention, regardless of whether any other organization or persons fulfil certain of the duties or responsibilities on behalf of the shipowner.

New Requirements

(I)                  Checklist for SRPS

With immediate effect, all new and existing SRPS will be required to complete a Checklist and submit together with the application for a Certificate of Authorisation (COA). Application for COA is to be made online at DigitalPORT@SG. The Checklist is to be made via this link:

(https://form.gov.sg/64c8cd0df139250012903905). Companies are required to indicate the Checklist Application No on the COA application. Applications will be assessed, and additional requirements may be imposed, if required.

(II)                Audit of SRPS by Recognised Organisations

With effect from 1 March 2024, all SRPS operating in Singapore will be subject to mandatory audit by the Recognised Organisations (ROs). There are eight (8) ROs appointed to act on behalf of the MPA in surveys and conduct audits and certification for Singapore-registered ships. There will be three (3) audit cycles:

• Initial audit to be carried out within three (3) months before or from the date of application for a COA (“Initial”).
• Intermediate audit to be carried out within the window from three (3) months before the 1^st and three (3) months after the 2^nd anniversary date of the COA (“Intermediate”).
• Renewal audit to be carried out within three (3) months before expiry of the COA (“Renewal”).

All audit reports are to be submitted by the SRPS to MPA using the audit report template upon completion of the audit. All procedure-related audit should comply with the procedure established by RO. All audit-related costs set by RO are to be borne by the SRPS directly with the RO they engaged. SRPS are advised to approach the ROs on audit-related matters.

Given that the audit scheme will take effect from 1 March 2024, existing SRPS with COA that have been recently issued or renewed will be subjected to renewal audit by the RO within three (3) months before expiry of the COA. In ensuring the continued compliance of the SRPS, MPA may carry out audit of the SRPS within the COA validity period.

Table below illustrate the window for intermediate audit

Note:

• A.D refers to anniversary date which is the day corresponding to the expiration date of COA.

• Audit report date is the date corresponding to the date of completion of initial audit.

Employment Agency Licence

All companies that intend to carry out recruitment and placement activities for third parties[2] are required to obtain an Employment Agency (EA) licence from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Subsidiary companies³ that recruit and place seafarers. solely for their parent companies are also required to obtain an EA licence. The requirement for an EA licence is on top of the requirement for a COA. Companies are advised to consult the MOM on the EA licence requirements before applying for a COA (Email: MOM_FMMD@mom.gov.sg; Tel No: 6438 5122).

Please refer to Shipping Circular No 16 of 2023 for more information.

²“Third parties” shall, in this context, mean separate legal entities which are distinct from the company which is carrying out the recruitment and placement service.

³Section 5 of Companies Act - a corporation is deemed to be a subsidiary of another corporation, if (a) that other corporation (i) controls the composition of the board of directors of the first-mentioned corporation; (ii) controls more than half of the voting power of the first-mentioned corporation; or (iii) holds more than half of the issued share capital of the first-mentioned corporation (excluding any part thereof which consists of preference shares and treasury shares); or (b) the first-mentioned corporation is a subsidiary of any corporation which is that other corporation’s subsidiary

MPA issues the Singapore Seaman Discharge Book for the purpose of recording the seafarer’s sea time to pursue professional qualifications in their career. It is not a requirement that seafarers must be in possession of a discharge book prior joining ships. The discharge book is also not intended to be the primary document for purposes of personal identification, border control clearance or job placement. Seafarers including foreign seafarers who are not in possession of a seaman discharge book and who wish to have an official recording for the period of sea service on board Singapore-registered ships can use the Certificate of Discharge (click this link) and obtain an endorsement from MPA.

Eligibility:

• Singapore Citizen
• Permanent Resident

• For Officers: Hold valid deck or engineer Certificate of Competency under the STCW Convention; or

• For Ratings: Hold valid STCW basic training certificates. Please ensure that these courses are approved BY MPA. For more information, please refer to Shipping Circular No 21 of 2017.

i) Personal Survival Techniques complying with STCW A-VI/1-1;

ii) Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting complying with STCW A-VI/1-2;

iii) Elementary First Aid complying with STCW A VI/1-3;

iv) Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities complying with STCW A -VI/1-4; and

v) Security Awareness Training complying with STCW A-VI/6-1

Applicants can submit the application via FormSG  or by scanning the QR Code below by using SINGPASS for Citizen and PR.

• The fee is S$18 payable via internet banking prior to collection.

For any enquiries, please write to mmo@mpa.gov.sg