TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: There is good news for Goans working in the hospitality segment on cruise vessels globally, as the Director General of Shipping has directed its offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata to issue Indian Continuous Discharge Certificate cum Seafarers Identity Document (CDC) to various categories of seafarers engaged therein.
At present many Indians including Goans do not have CDC which causes them hardships, procedural difficulties for signing on and off duty, reduces prospects of employment on vessels worldwide.
CDC officially certifies that its holder is a seaman as per the International Convention and is a legal record of his sea experience. A seafarer has to carry CDC while on board, and the master of the vessel signs the document each time a seaman is signed off from the vessel certifying his experience on board.
As per the categories included for CDC, hospitality staff on cruise vessels with seafarer’s experience and new entrants are eligible. It also includes seafarers with experience on board merchant vessels.
Staff engaged as hotel managers, waiters, front office, laundry, doctors, bar managers, casino managers, spa managers, accountants, guest relations, and many more working in the hospitality departments of cruise vessels are eligible to apply for the Indian CDC.
Seafarers applying for the CDC serving on board cruise and merchant vessels should have at least two years experience in the rank to apply for an Indian CDC. The said experience should be on a foreign CDC duly authenticated for the whole period of sea service claimed, copies of which have to be submitted along with corresponding Indian passport immigration entries.
For new entrants, a letter of intent is required from a licenced RPF company which recruits Indian seafarers for cruise vessels.
The Director General of Shipping in an order issued on March 22, said that this initiative will help Indian seafarers and new entrants who wish to make a career in this sector as water borne cruise tourism and related activities are gaining popularity globally.
DGS Gautam Chatterjee, IAS, stated, “The world shipping fleet has experienced an increase in the number of cruise vessels and Indian shipping industry is also venturing into this line and there could be a possibility of more Indian flag cruise vessels.”
He further points out that a large number of Indians are engaged world over in foreign flag cruise vessels as hospitality personnel but do not possess an Indian CDC.
The DGS has granted a dispensation to hospitality crew of Indian flag cruise vessels from carrying CDCs. “The likely increase of cruise vessels worldwide will give scope for new aspiring Indian entrants to venture into careers in the hospitality category of cruise vessels,” Chatterjee says in his order.
The state commissionerate for NRI affairs has welcomed the directions of the DGS with its Commissioner Dr Wilfred Mesquita saying, “This was long due and our Goan boys can now heave a sigh of relief.”
He also complimented the efforts of Admiral John D’Silva at the NRI Commissionerate, Goa, and Captain Jayakumar, the DG Shipping representative in Goa who had been pursuing this issue with the Centre to help Goans in the hospitality segment of cruise vessels.
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