If you need to verify Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) issued certification, including endorsements, you can do this online through the dedicated verification checker on GOV.UK.
MCA certificates that can be verified using the online checker
The following certification can be checked online:
- Able Seafarer (AB)
- Authority to Operate (ATO)
- Boatmasters’ Licence (BML)
- Certificate of Competency (CoC)
- Certificate of Proficiency (CoP)
- Flag State Endorsement (FSE)
- Fishing Flag State Endorsement (Fishing FSE)
- GMDSS General Operator’s Certificate (GOC)
- GMDSS GOC Endorsement
- GMDSS Long Range Certificate (LRC)
- GMDSS Restricted Operator’s Certificate (ROC)
- GMDSS ROC Endorsement
- STCW Rating Certificate
- Ship’s Cook Certificate of Competency (CoC)
You can access the online document verification service on GOV.UK.
Discharge Books and British Seaman's Cards
Please email the Seafarers Registry team based in Cardiff at seafarers.registry@mcga.gov.uk if you need to verify Discharge Books and British Seaman’s Cards.
You can find more information on Discharge Books and British Seaman’s Cards on our dedicated information page and on GOV.UK.
Verification of other UK documentation
For verification of training certificates issued by an MCA-approved third party, please contact the issuing institution directly as these cannot be verified through the MCA’s online checker. You can find information on MCA-approved training providers for several courses on GOV.UK.
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Contact the team
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If you find an error, omission, think a document has been tampered with, or are unable to verify an MCA-issued certificate through the online checker, please contact exams@mcga.gov.uk
Please note the following if you are contacting our exams team to manually verify certificates that could not be verified online:
- A full scan of the certificate is required for verification. This includes pages 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 of the UK CoC booklet, or both sides of the UK CoC if in card format.
- Please ensure it is the most recent certificate. We cannot verify a certificate if a new endorsement has been issued.
- We cannot verify to individuals; a company or institution will need to email us with full scanned copies of the relevant documents or certificates to receive verification.
For queries relating to Discharge Books and British Seaman’s Cards, please contact the team on seafarers.registry@mcga.gov.uk
