Digital Seafarer Certificates issued by The Netherlands
In 2024 the Netherlands started a pilot issuing digital Certificates of Competence (CoC) and digital Certificates of Proficiency (COP) for Tankers to Dutch seafarers. The second phase of the pilot will start in April 2025. During this phase, in addition to the certificates of competency and digital certificates of proficiency (CoP) for tankers, a number of documents from training institutes will also be issued digitally to a limited group of Dutch seafarers.
The certificates meet the requirements of the FAL.5/Circ.39 (guidelines for the use of electronic certificates), are legally recognized and hold the same value as traditional paper-based documents. They are encrypted and secured with advanced digital signatures, based on the ISO 18013-5 ensuring their authenticity and integrity. The administration has implemented a user-friendly platform that allows for easy application and retrieval of these certificates.
The certificates contain a green background on the top with the logo of the “Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport”. On the details page, a logo and the name of the issuing authority “Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport)” is included. The training institute documents have the same background as the physical documents at the top. The details page includes a logo and the name of the training institute in question.
The digital Certificate is issued to an app on a smartphone called the "Kiwa eWallet". Enforcement officers can download the same app and check the seafarer's document by scanning QR code presented by the seafarer. Also, an enforcer can use any other compatible ISO18013-5 app that supports the defined DocType.
More information can be found in the pilot description phase 1. You can also contact NL.Elicense-support@kiwa.com.
For more information regarding the platform that was used for this pilot, please visit the Kiwa site. If you have any questions regarding the use of the app, please visit our FAQ.
Download Kiwa eWallet in the App Store
Download Kiwa eWallet in the Play Store
