The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS)<\/a>, Government of India<\/strong>, has issued a new draft circular in 2025 to stop fake or fraudulent entries in Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDCs)<\/strong> used by Indian seafarers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This step comes after several cases were found where sea service records were forged \u2014 falsely showing that seafarers had served on ships they never actually joined. In many cases, unauthorized stamps<\/strong> were used by unlicensed agents or companies pretending to be valid RPSL holders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDC is a legal document<\/strong> under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. It officially records the sea service of Indian seafarers and is required for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If its credibility is compromised, it affects the global image<\/strong> of Indian seafarers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023<\/strong>, any person who:<\/p>\n\n\n\n can be fined up to \u20b92,00,000<\/strong> by the Principal Officer of the MMD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The circular clearly outlines who must do what<\/strong> to stop fake CDC entries:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any RPSL agency<\/a> or company involved in fake entries can face:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bodies like INSA, FOSMA, MASSA, ICSSA, CLIA<\/strong>, Seafarers unions, maritime training institutes, and RPSL companies are required to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This circular is an important step to clean up malpractices<\/strong> in the Indian maritime sector. It aims to protect genuine seafarers<\/strong>, uphold international reputation, and ensure transparency and trust in the CDC system.<\/p>\n\n\n A CDC is an official document that records the sea service history of Indian seafarers. It is required by law and internationally recognized.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The person or company responsible may face a fine up to \u20b92,00,000, suspension of license, and blacklisting.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Only the Master of the vessel or an authorized company representative can make or sign sea service entries based on actual onboard service.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Report it immediately to the jurisdictional MMD or DG Shipping<\/a>\u2019s Crew Branch.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Yes. Involvement in forged CDC entries can lead to suspension or cancellation of the RPSL license and blacklisting for up to 5 years.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DGS Circular 2025: No More Fake Sea Service in CDCs The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), Government of India, has issued a new draft circular in 2025 to stop fake or fraudulent entries in Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDCs) used by Indian seafarers. This step comes after several cases were found where sea service records were … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73,"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/73"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indosearch.in\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why is the CDC Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Does the Law Say?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Key Directions for Stakeholders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For RPSL Agencies <\/a>& Shipping Companies:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Consequences of Forgery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Responsibilities of Other Stakeholders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Final Word<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What is a Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC)?<\/h3>\n
What happens if a fake entry is found in a CDC?<\/h3>\n
Who can make entries in a CDC?<\/h3>\n
What should I do if I suspect a fake CDC entry?<\/h3>\n
Can an RPSL license be canceled for fake CDC entries?<\/h3>\n