Education and seagoing service from the navy

Employees in the Royal Danish Navy can serve in merchant ships as ordinary ship's assistant or able ship's assistant or as Mate with a Master (Hometrade) exam.

The Royal Danish Navy's Basic Training can be equated with the ship assistant education (ordinary ship's assistant) by supplementing the basic education with service in the Navy's units corresponding to 100 days at sea, which is the term the Navy uses for seagoing service.

Sea days must be obtained in ships belonging to the Navy with a gross tonnage of above 20.

You can document your seagoing service in different ways:

  • Copy of discharge book
  • Record of seagoing service

The record of seagoing service must contain "effective seagoing service" in days, and state the type of ship.
It must be signed by the master or captain.

Read more about seagoing service.

Earning of seagoing service for upgrade of certificates of competency must follow the applicable provisions in the order on qualification requirements for seafarers and fishermen and on certificates of competency and certificates of proficiency.

To obtain a certificate of proficiency as an ordinary ship's assistant, you must:

  • have completed Basic Training from the Navy
  • document 100 sea days within the past 5 years, in vessels belonging to the Navy
  • have Basic Safety Training and course in fire-fighting in ships within the last 5 years STCW A VI/1-1 og 1-2
  • have valid health certificate for seafarers and fishermen (fit for look-out duties) - Health certificate from the Navy can be exchanged for a health certificate for seafarers and fishermen with DMA
  • have watchkeeping certificate (This is not a requirement, but if desired, a Before watch-keeping-certificate can be applied for together with the cerficate as ordinary ship's assistant)
  • Basic tanker operations for oil, chemical and gas tankers, cf. STCW Convention Regulation V/1-1, Paragraph 2.2 and Regulation V/1-2, Paragraph 2.2. (You must contact one of the maritime educational institutions for information about the next training course)

Apply here for certificate of proficiency as ordinary ship's assistant

To obtain a certificate of proficiency as able ship's assistent you need to contact a maritime school.

List of maritime schools

To be admitted to a school, you must meet the following requirements:

  • fulfill the requirements as ordinary ship's assistant
  • have completed the final module for ship's assistants or the ship's assistant training programme for persons holding a certificate of apprenticeship,
  • have obtained 360 sea days within the past 5 years, and
  • have a valid watchkeeping certificate.

Certificate of proficiency as able ship's assistant and watchkeeping certificate will be issued by the maritime school after completed final module.

To obtain a Certificate of Competency as Mate 4th class you must:

  • fulfill the requirements for able ship's assistant
  • have passed the exam for either Master (Hometrade), Master (Restricted) or Master in the Navy
  • have obtained minimum 360 sea days within the past 5 years
  • have Basic Safety Training and Fire-fighting in ships within the last 5 years (STCW A-VI/1-1 and 1-2)
  • have a valid Medical certificate (fit for look-out duties) - Health certificate from the Navy can be exchanged for a Medical certificate with the DMA
  • have a valid radio certificate GMDSS GOC/ROC, can be applied for together with Certificate of Competency as Mate 4th class

After you have passed the exam, you can apply for the Certificate of Competency the Danish Maritime Authority.

To obtain a Certificate of Competency as Mate 3rd class you must:

  • have passed the exam for Master (Restricted) in the Navy
    • Exam must be prior to 2018, in order to comply with STCW requirements
  • have obtained minimum 12 months of seagoing service in Navy ships within the past 5 years
  • have obtained seagoing service in merchant ships of minimum 500 gross tonnage in world wide trade, for either 6 months of deck service, or 3 months as supernumerary navigator
  • have Basic Safety Training and Fire-fighting in ships within the last 5 years (STCW A-VI/1-1 and 1-2)
  • have a valid Medical certificate (fit for look-out duties) - Health certificate from the Navy can be exchanged for a Medical certificate with the DMA
  • have a valid radio certificate GMDSS GOC/ROC, can be applied for together with Certificate of Competency as Mate 3rd class

When meeting the requirements, you can apply for the Certificate of Competency at the Danish Maritime Authority.

To obtain a Certificate of Competency as Mate 2nd class you must:

  • have passed the exam for Master in the Navy
    • Exam must be prior to 2018, in order to comply with STCW requirements
  • have obtained minimum 12 months of seagoing service in Navy ships within the past 5 years
  • have obtained seagoing service in merchant ships of minimum 500 gross tonnage in world wide trade, for either 6 months of deck service, or 3 months as supernumerary navigator
  • have Basic Safety Training and Fire-fighting in ships within the last 5 years (STCW A-VI/1-1 and 1-2)
  • have a valid Medical certificate (fit for look-out duties) - Health certificate from the Navy can be exchanged for a Medical certificate with the DMA
  • have a valid radio certificate GMDSS GOC/ROC, can be applied for together with Certificate of Competency as Mate 2nd class

When meeting the requirements, you can apply for the Certificate of Competency at the Danish Maritime Authority.

To obtain a Certificate of Competency as Watchkeeping Engineer Officer you must:

When meeting the requirements, you can apply for the Certificate of Competency at the Danish Maritime Authority.