Falsified superyacht crew licenses—some flat-out fakes, others real but bought, not earned—are on the rise. The situation has worsened to the point where yachting-industry groups are raising the alarm. They’re especially warning owners and their teams about subsequent potential safety issues.
The cautions come from the Professional Yachting Association (PYA) and the Italian Yacht Masters (IYM). The former is a non-profit trade association representing crewmembers globally. IYM, meanwhile, is a skippers’ association promoting honesty, respect, and overall professionalism. IYM members reportedly have discovered a significant number of fake or purchased superyacht crew licenses. Neither PYA nor IYM have records of how many of these documents are in circulation. However, Kim Llorente, PYA’s operations manager, says that since 2020, companies purporting to offer licenses are advertising on social media. In fact, they “offer an increasing number of Certificates of Competence from different flag authorities,” she explains. “The number of adverts and cases of illegitimate CoCs has raised particularly in the last two and a half years,” she adds.
Regardless of possessing a fake or purchased license, the individuals who buy them are unqualified. This in turn puts owners, guests, properly trained crew, and the yacht all in danger.
The good news is, methods exist to help identify likely fraudsters. Firstly, the IMO keeps a so-called white list of nations in compliance with the minimum crew training and certification safety standards. The PYA and IYM urge owners’ teams, crew recruiters, and insurers to accept only CoCs from white-listed countries. Several of the falsified superyacht crew licenses are from non-compliant countries. Even with a legitimate license from one of these countries, though, the PYA warns that it likely faces rejection for a Certificate of Equivalency for yachting. Additionally, the potential crewmember faces heightened scrutiny for their sea time and training—which also could be rejected.
Additionally, lag states have procedures to help identify falsified licenses. Therefore, if you question the legitimacy of a potential certification, contact the flag state which issued it. Finally, the PYA says that if you have more questions, it can assist in determining the best course of action.
Professional Yachting Association pya.org
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