Crew Manager's Digitalized Operations
Stcw Certificates of Competency and Certificates of Proficiency
STCW Certificates of Competency (COC) and Certificates of Proficiency (COP) are filed in a fully digitalized database format. They are categorized per Rank, Vessel Type, Special Fuel Type, Special Trade, and Safety/Security and Medical requirements.
Our ecosystem developers have modeled COCs/COPs basis the templates used by each country's Maritime Administration, thus allowing Elvictor AI tools and recognition APIs to identify the varying types of certificates carried by our seafarers.
The second phase is to process them using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to digitally read these documents and acquire the data found therein.
The third phase is where Robot Process Automation (RPA) scripts are designed and developed by our in-house cloud developers by injecting the procedures and the know-how of Elvictor into the system for automatic authentication purposes. To cross-check the received data with open data pools from Administrations' verification websites to confirm the COC/COP authenticity using their unique registration number.
The fourth phase uses the data acquired from OCR and our developers' parameters to identify if the COP/COC uploaded passes the rules established by International and National Regulations or are specified by our Clients.
Elvictor has gone deep into this documentation and certification automation to speed up the Seafarer's application for both the Seafarer and the office personnel. The aim is to provide user experience and ease, remove any complexity, and redefine the processes by fully digitalizing this arduous and error-prone process.
As standardized by STCW 78 as amended, Certificates of Competency (COC) and Certificates of Proficiency (COP) contain distinct important information. Elvictor AI tools transform this information into data which is then allocated to system processes following defined requirements.
The allocated data used for our automation purposes assists our crew management ecosystem in ways that are summarized herein below:
Nationality
The first information that our system is processing is the document's nationality to verify that the Seafarer's registered ethnicity matched the Administration that the documents are issued. We prevent errors or suspicious records in our database, and we proactively digitally screen falsified documentation and certification to exclude holders of such documentation into our selection pool.
Date of Issue and Expiry
Essential information stated in the certificates is the date of issue and expiry. Our developers have set parameters so that no seafarers are allowed to be proposed for employment if their necessary certificates do not have at least 14 months of validity ahead. Based on our long experience and past mistakes, we observed that this time is enough to cover the time needed for our Clients to decide on proper and risk-averse recruitment. The dependents of risk-averse recruitment are based on whether the Seafarer proposed will be employed, the joining procedures, the waiting time for a crew change slot, and the maximum time of contract allowed by MLC. The system alerts all involved employees so that no seafarer is proposed to our Clients that do not have the needed validity.
Regulation, Functions and Level
Our system reads and processes the information stated regarding the Regulation of the Certificate and its Functions and Level to match. This process forms another step of our automation to safeguard that the COC and Endorsement, if applicable, are legitimate and cover the Rank of the proposed Seafarer.
In the case of a COP, the automation will check if the proficiency stated corresponds to the STCW regulation and identify if all COPs carried by a seafarer correspond to the holding COC. If there is a discrepancy basis the above procedure, Elvictor automation will block the recruitment process and alert all implicated personnel.
Additionally, basis the above process, the Elvictor crew management ecosystem can identify which of the seafarers carry a higher license than the one needed for their contract rank. In conjunction with the sea services history and other specific requirements that our clients may have and are passed to our system parameters, our automation creates automated lists of the Client's pool's promotion-ready seafarers. This allows Elvictor to guide our Ship Managers towards formulating a promotions plan or, in case of emergency disembarkation without the possibility of replacement, to have beforehand and swiftly information regarding continuous compliance with the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate.
Limitations
One of the most critical pieces of information and one that the Crew Operators may easily overlook is the limitations stated in the COCs and/or the Endorsements. The manner this information is displayed in each Administration's Certificate varies greatly. Our developers have set parameters to our system, so this information is read concerning the certificate's nationality. Then it is analyzed basis the type and/or size of the vessel or power of the vessel's engine in conjunction with the contracted rank of the Seafarer in question. For example, the system will not allow a Georgian junior officer that holds a COC with a limitation not to be employed to Liquefied Gas Tankers to be proposed for LNG or LPG vessels. Similarly, a Chief Engineer will not be allowed to be proposed to a vessel if he has a limitation to be employed to ships with a power plant of less than 3000KW.
Output Factors
Parties informed
The respected branch office(s) of Elvictor is informed
The Operations Center of Elvictor
The Ship Manager's Crew Manager
Lined up seafarers are informed
Results
Secure the STCW authenticity, validity and process
Advantages
The advantages for the Ship Manager’s Crew department, On the proposal stage and then on the lined-up stage:
All STCW Requirements are compliant,
and provision of STCW Matrix
dynamically
All STCW Certificates are provided with full data and scans online and in the cloud drive of Elvictor
Reporting of STCW Certificates
that need to be issued or
pending
Authenticity and validation
Audit online tools for STCW
Dashboard for STCW
Takeaways
Philosophy
STCW Certificates of Competency (COC) and Certificates of Proficiency (COP) to be filed in a fully digitalized database format, avoiding human-intensive paperwork and cross-check and speed up the application process and the upcoming recruitment process steps.
Proactiveness
Elvictor is proactive through the disruptive technological automation of STCW certificates by avoiding human errors by speeding up the data entry, validation, verification, and automatic authentication of STCW documents and forecasting expirations missing certificates or unmatched certification validity with future positions.
Parametic Customization
There is a parametric customization per STCW certificate per country, depending on the local regulations applied. Robotic process automation manages the injection of know-how and procedure for checking and authenticating every single certificate through specific scripts and algorithms in line with ICR and OCR APIs developed and updated in-house.
Best Practice
Above human-intelligence screening of applicants' certifications prior screening and selection process and during the recruitment stages for not provided ones, which forms a pure proactive approach and assistance on certification fraud electronic catharsis.
Paperless Operations
All STCW files are in a scan format to be processed, and all procedures are done digitally without human interaction. Specific intranet dashboards notify of the problematic STCW grouped by the importance of information.
Documented Evidence
Logs of STCW documents are stored for future retrieval, and Elvictor's dashboards are provided to Elvictor's personnel for controlling, monitoring, and deciding based on each item's outcome.
