Maritime & Offshore Safety
Maritime & STCW Training Certificates
Issue STCW, offshore survival and maritime safety certificates as blockchain secured digital documents that a port state control officer, a vessel operator or a client can check in seconds by scanning a QR code. The record is written to a blockchain at issuance, so it cannot be altered afterwards, and it verifies in any port and any time zone without a call to your training centre.
TL;DR
A maritime training certificate is only useful if someone at the other end can confirm it. TRUE issues STCW and offshore safety credentials as digital documents on your own domain, each carrying a QR code and a permanent verification URL. Scanning the code opens a page showing the training, the seafarer, the issuing centre and the date, checked against a cryptographic record written to a blockchain when the certificate was issued. Nobody has to phone your office, and a certificate issued today still verifies in twenty years. Issuing runs from a dashboard, a spreadsheet upload or a REST API of five endpoints, so a whole course cohort can be certified in one pass.
- Scan the QR code at the dock or on the vessel and the verification page loads on any phone.
- The record is on a blockchain, so an altered certificate fails the check immediately.
- Certificates live on your own domain, carrying your training centre's brand rather than ours.
Why do paper and PDF maritime certificates fail at sea?
Because verifying them depends on reaching a human being. A paper certificate is destroyed by water or lost with a bag, a PDF can be edited in a few clicks, and confirming either one means calling a training centre that may be closed, in another time zone or in another language. Crew change ports and flag states faster than any of that can keep up.
Maritime training certificates carry life-or-death weight. They prove a crew member can operate a lifeboat, fight a fire, or manage a DP system. Most of them are still pieces of paper, or PDFs that anyone can edit in three clicks.
The IMO's own training and certification guidance puts it plainly: unqualified seafarers holding fraudulent certificates of competency are a danger to themselves, to others on board and to the marine environment.
Port state control officers, vessel operators, and clients need to verify credentials on the spot, in Rotterdam, in the North Sea, on a weekend. Paper can't deliver that.
- Paper gets destroyed. Wet, torn, lost overboard. Certificates stored on vessels have a short shelf life.
- PDFs can be forged. A fake STCW certificate looks identical to a real one. No built-in way to tell the difference.
- Verification is slow. Port state control officers call your training centre to confirm a certificate is real. If it's a weekend or you're in a different time zone, the call doesn't get answered.
- Crew move across jurisdictions. Different flag states, different ports, different expectations, and a stack of paper that may or may not be accepted.
How large is the STCW certified workforce, and how common is certificate fraud?
The workforce is large and getting scarcer, which is exactly the condition under which forged credentials spread. BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping count 2.57 million seafarers and a shortfall of officers, while the IMO's own sub committee describes the number of fraudulent certificates reported by member states as large without publishing a running total.
- 2.57 million seafarers currently serve the fleet, operating 85,148 merchant ships. Source: the BIMCO and ICS Seafarer Workforce Report, published 25 June 2026.
- The industry faces a shortage of 39,100 STCW certified officers in 2026, and needs 113,735 more officers by 2030. Demand for STCW certified seafarers has risen 35% since the 2021 edition of the same report. Source: BIMCO and ICS, 25 June 2026.
- The IMO has recognised the scale of the problem without quantifying it. Its Sub Committee on Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping records that it is “noting the large number of fraudulent certificates reported by Parties”, on the IMO's fraudulent certificates page. We have found no published global count, so we do not quote one.
The STCW Convention already requires parties to make information available so that others can check the validity and authenticity of a certificate of competency. A QR code on the document is the fastest way for a training centre to meet that expectation for its own credentials.
How does a blockchain secured maritime certificate get verified?
By scanning the QR code printed on it. The scan opens a verification page showing the issuer, the seafarer, the training and the completion date, all compared against a cryptographic fingerprint written to a blockchain at issuance. A single altered character breaks the match, so the check produces an answer rather than an opinion.
TRUE Original replaces vulnerable paper and PDF credentials with blockchain-secured digital certificates that verify in seconds, anywhere in the world.
Instant QR verification, on vessel, at port, anywhere
Every TRUE certificate includes a QR code. A port state control officer, vessel operator, or client scans it with their phone and sees the verified original: issuer identity, completion date and training details, all confirmed against the blockchain record.
No phone calls. No waiting. Works at the dock in Rotterdam or on an offshore platform in the North Sea.
Any smartphone camera reads the code. Opening the verification page needs a connection and nothing else, in any port and any time zone.
Blockchain-Locked Integrity
When you issue a certificate through TRUE, a cryptographic fingerprint is written to blockchain (Ethereum, AVAX, Fantom, Polygon). That record is permanent and immutable. Nobody can alter it after issuance, including you.
A certificate issued today is verifiable in five years, ten years, or twenty. The blockchain doesn't close for weekends.
eIDAS Compliant
TRUE meets the EU's eIDAS regulation for electronic identification and trust services. For maritime operations in European waters, this means your digital certificates meet EU electronic document standards for authenticity, integrity and non-repudiation.
Your Brand, Your Domain
Certificates live on your own domain, credentials.youracademy.com, rather than on TRUE's website. Your training centre's brand and authority front and centre, exactly where it belongs.
Bulk Issuing via API or Dashboard
Issue hundreds of certificates after a training course completes. TRUE's REST API connects to your LMS or training management system for automated issuing. Five endpoints, clean documentation, no per-certificate manual work.
Or use the dashboard: upload a spreadsheet, issue in bulk, done.
Which safety critical organisations issue certificates through TRUE?
Security, construction and hospitality certifiers whose credentials carry legal and safety weight, including SSF, OneMore Secure, Branschutbildarna and Safe Cert Group. They chose the platform for the same reason a maritime academy would: their certificates get checked by people who were not in the room when the training happened.
TRUE secures credentials in industries where verification is not optional.
SSF, Sweden's authority on security and crime prevention
Sveriges Stöldskyddsförening has operated for over 80 years as Sweden's leading authority on security and crime prevention. They issue blockchain-secured proofs of education through TRUE.
“It has been particularly important for us to be able to ensure that our Proofs of Education are correct and secure.”
OneMore Secure, cybersecurity certification
OneMore Secure chose TRUE for secure document management, and uses TRUE to certify its own training graduates.
“For us, it's only natural to collaborate with the player in secure document management that has the highest quality, and stands for world-class security.”
Branschutbildarna issues construction safety training certificates secured by blockchain.
Safe Cert Group issues hospitality safety and hygiene certifications that are verified digitally.
The pattern holds across all four. Organisations responsible for safety critical training choose TRUE because somebody outside their organisation has to be able to check the credential.
Which maritime training certificates can you issue through TRUE?
Any credential your centre already awards, because TRUE issues the document rather than defining the syllabus. In practice that covers STCW basic safety training, offshore survival, medical care on board, dynamic positioning, instructor credentials and vessel specific familiarisation records.
Every one of these is issued once, verified many times. TRUE makes every verification instant and tamper-proof.
STCW Basic Safety Training
Basic firefighting, personal survival, personal safety, and social responsibility
Offshore Survival & Safety
BOSIET, HUET, sea survival programmes
Maritime First Aid & Medical Care
Proficiency in medical first aid, medical care on board
Dynamic Positioning (DP) Operator
DP Induction, DP Simulator, DP Maintenance
Maritime Instructor & Assessor Credentials
Train-the-trainer certifications for your own staff
Vessel-Specific Familiarisation Records
Ship-specific safety training documentation
How much has TRUE issued, and where?
More than 500,000 documents for over 200 organisations across 15 or more countries. Documents can be secured on Ethereum, AVAX, Fantom or Polygon, and the platform is eIDAS and GDPR compliant. These are TRUE platform figures rather than third party research.
500,000+Documents secured
15+Countries
200+Organizations worldwide
eIDAS Compliant GDPR Compliant Blockchain-Secured Ethereum · AVAX · Fantom · Polygon Swedish Platform
What do maritime training centres ask about digital certificates?
Mostly how the credential sits alongside STCW compliance paperwork, how verification works away from an office, and how a whole cohort gets issued at once. The answers below cover each in turn.
Can maritime certificates issued by TRUE be used alongside STCW compliance documentation?
TRUE provides tamper-proof, blockchain-secured digital certificates that serve as verifiable records of training completion. They complement your STCW compliance documentation with a layer of authenticity verification that paper certificates cannot offer. The certificate states who completed what training, when and issued by whom, and anyone can check it with a QR scan.
How does on-vessel QR verification work?
Every certificate includes a unique QR code. Scan it with any smartphone camera and it opens a verification page showing the original certificate details, confirmed against the blockchain record. Works on any device, at any port, on any vessel with basic mobile connectivity.
Can we issue certificates in bulk after training courses?
Yes. Use the REST API to automate issuance from your LMS or training management system, or upload a spreadsheet through the dashboard. Issue hundreds of certificates in minutes, not days.
What happens if a seafarer loses their certificate?
Nothing. TRUE certificates are digital and exist as permanent, shareable links. A seafarer can access their certificate from any device, share it via link or QR code, and it remains verifiable on the blockchain indefinitely. No replacement process needed.
Can certificates be branded with our training centre's identity?
Absolutely. TRUE certificates live on your own custom domain and carry your branding, logo, and design. Your training centre's name and authority are what the recipient and the verifier see.
How large is the seafarer workforce these certificates serve?
BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping report that 2.57 million seafarers currently serve the fleet, operating 85,148 merchant ships, with a shortage of 39,100 STCW certified officers in 2026. Their Seafarer Workforce Report was published on 25 June 2026.
What do TRUE customers say about secure certificates?
That the security is the point, not a feature. Both quotes below come from organisations whose own business is trust: a cybersecurity certifier and a construction group's learning team.
“For us, it’s only natural to collaborate with the player in secure document management that has the highest quality, and stands for world-class security.”
“This is absolutely brilliant! A thousand thank you’s!!”
Ready to issue maritime certificates anyone can verify?
500,000+ documents issued. Trusted across 15+ countries. eIDAS compliant. GDPR compliant. Blockchain-secured. Start issuing tamper-proof maritime certificates today.