Germany has relaxed its ship manning rules, allowing shipping companies to employ masters and ship’s officers from outside the EU on German-flagged vessels under specific conditions.
The amendment to the Safe Manning Ordinance aims to address the shortage of qualified officers and improve the competitiveness of the German flag.
Previously, German-flagged ships generally required an EU national as master. Larger vessels also had EU nationality requirements for certain officer positions.
Under the new rules, non-EU masters and officers can serve on German-flagged ships if they meet the required conditions.
Seafarers who already hold a certificate of competency issued by an EU member state need a German endorsement and must complete a course on German maritime law.
Seafarers with certificates issued by non-EU countries can also be employed. However, the shipping company must first obtain approval from BG Verkehr’s Ship Safety Department.
Companies must demonstrate that no suitable EU master or officer is available on the labour market. They must also confirm that no EU officer can currently be promoted to master.
In return, companies must create two new maritime training positions for each third-country master or officer employed under the scheme. For fleets consisting exclusively of vessels below 500 GT, one training position is required.
Eligible positions include trainee marine engineers, officer assistants and junior officers who graduated from a maritime college within the previous five years.
The authorisation applies to the shipping company rather than an individual vessel. It is initially valid for six months and can be extended for another 54 months once the required training positions have been established.
The German flag currently covers about 395 merchant ships of 100 GT and above. The country’s wider merchant fleet includes more than 1,400 vessels.
