MCA gets tough on fraudulent seafarers
Christopher Ringdahl, a charter yacht skipper, was successfully prosecuted under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 for forging his Navigation and Radar Certificate. Mr Ringdahl was fined and ordered to pay costs totaling £10,000.
In January 2002 the certification arrangement for those wishing to obtain a UK Certificate of Competency changed and became more demanding. In order to assist the changeover, transitional arrangements were put in place. It was under these arrangements that Mr Ringdahl attempted to obtain his Class IV Certificate of Competency, and he had to show that he complied with those arrangements by 31 July 2003, i.e. that any documentation required in support was issued prior to that date. A Class IV (Yachts) with a Command Endorsement allows the holder to command a yacht of up to 3,000gt anywhere in the world.
Mr Ringdahl failed on two previous occasions to pass the necessary oral examination. After the first attempt, he was reminded that he lacked a valid Navigation and Radar Certificate, as well as other documentation, in support of his application. Mr Ringdahl passed the oral exam in August 2004 and he was again reminded that he needed to show the necessary valid documentation, which included a valid Navigation and Radar Certificate.
Mr Ringdahl informed the MCA by fax that he had lost some of the required supporting documentation, and he attached a Navigation and Radar Certificate bearing an issue date of 14 January 2003. However, further investigations revealed that the date of issue had been altered and that the correct date was in fact 14 January 2000. The Certificate was therefore out of date.
Chief Examiner and Head of Seafarers Standards at the MCA, Captain Roger Towner, stated “persons holding certificates obtained fraudulently are a danger to themselves, their fellow crew members and passengers … the MCA takes such conduct very seriously and will not hesitate to bring similar cases to the attention of the courts in the future.”
And with these words no doubt ringing loudly in his ears, another culprit, Mr Uvindra Guruge, found himself on the wrong side of the law late last year when he was sentenced to 200 hours community service for forgery offences.
In March 2006, Mr Guruge had applied to the MCA to sit an oral exam leading to a Masters (Unlimited) Certificate of Competency. He supported his application by submitting his Discharge Book, Certificates of Service and Watch Keeping Certificates.
Routine checks by the MCA revealed that Mr Guruge had not been on two of the vessels for the sea time claimed. Mr Guruge admitted manufacturing four of the documents and making two false entries in his Discharge Book. Upon his sentencing, Captain Towner stated that “this was a well thought out and planned attempt to circumvent the certification requirements. If successful it would have resulted in an inadequately trained person having the capability to command any Merchant ship.” Captain Towner reiterated the MCA’s view that any attempt to defraud the certification system is a serious matter and that the MCA will act quickly in bringing such cases to the attention of the courts.
Given the huge rise in the number of very large yachts sailing the seas or currently under construction, it is vital that those owning, managing and insuring such yachts ensure that those in charge are sufficiently experienced and appropriately qualified. Any failure to do so could be costly to all concerned.
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