Changes to Certification on UK and EU flagged vessels post Brexit
The UK Government has recently announced that following the UK's exit from the European Union as of the 31st December 2019 and the 12 months transitional period ending the 31st December 2020, the UK will unilaterally recognised all seafarers certification issued by a European Union member State for employment on board a UK registered vessel after the end of the transition period. A seafarer with an EU issued Certificate of Competency will still be required to obtain a Certificate of Equivalency, however that will be issued on presentation of the EU certificate.However the European Union has indicated that at present it will not be accepting UK issued certificates on EU flagged vessels if the issue date of the certificate is after the 31st December 2020.
We would recommend that all UK certified seafarers working on EU flagged vessels such as Malta and Cyprus look into renewing their certificates prior to the end of 2020
