St. Maarten warns on fraudulent seafarer credentials & documents

St. Maarten warns on fraudulent seafarer credentials & documents
The Editorial Team August 4, 2025 https://safety4sea.com/st-maarten-warns-on-fraudulent-seafarer-credentia...

The Government of Country St. Maarten, has issued a statement regarding the alarming and persistent issue of fraudulent seafarer credentials and vessel registration documents being falsely issued under the guise of St. Maarten’s authority.

According to the statement, on 22 September 2020, the Ministry received a report from an Indian seafarer who raised concerns about the authenticity of his certification after facing issues verifying its legitimacy. This triggered an immediate internal investigation by the Maritime Affairs office. Within 24 hours, a formal notification was sent to the Government of the Netherlands. Following their advice, the Ministry also contacted the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding (CMOU) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The CMOU, along with the IMO’s regional representatives in the Caribbean, played an instrumental role in disseminating critical information to MOU member states and flag states around the world regarding the fraudulent documentation.

The investigation identified that fraudulent certificates and documents were being issued through entities operating under domain names such as:

https://www.msta-registry.com​
https://ims-registry.org/vessel-registration

These organizations falsely claim authorization from or association with Country St. Maarten. With the collaborative support of the Kingdom Maritime Administration a formal statement was drafted and submitted to the IMO. This statement was published on the Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) platform, emphasizing that Country St. Maarten does not operate an international flag registry, nor does it issue STCW Certificates of Competency, Seafarer Books, Ship Certificates, or any related documents for conventional vessels (vessels exceeding 500 Gross Tons).

Following these actions, the Netherlands escalated the matter by initiating contact with U.S. intelligence authorities. A virtual meeting was swiftly convened, after which U.S. authorities confirmed that the MSTA Registry had fraudulent links to St. Maarten, Belize, and California (USA).

Most recently, the Netherlands, in coordination with St. Maarten’s Maritime Affairs office, submitted an official notification on fraudulent activities to the IMO, reaffirming the following:

Country St. Maarten is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
St. Maarten does not authorize or recognize any private individual, company, Classification Society, country, or third party to issue maritime documents or credentials on its behalf.
Any documentation purporting to originate from or be authorized by Country St. Maarten is fraudulent unless issued directly by our competent authority.

As stated, the Ministry regrets the harm caused to seafarers misled by fraudulent operations and is committed to legal action and international cooperation to eliminate such fraud. St. Maarten reaffirms that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy on maritime fraud and will continue taking strong national and international measures to protect the sector’s integrity.

We urge all seafarers, employers, and maritime stakeholders to verify credentials through official channels and contact our Maritime Affairs Office with any doubts or queries. Our integrity is not for sale, and our flag will not be misused. …said Grisha Heyliger-Marten, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications.