Seafarer certification: annual statistics

High level statistics

This data is valid as of 6 December 2024.

Data fluctuates daily as new certificates of competency are issued, expire, and are revalidated.

Domestic – Near coastal certificates of competency (CoCs)

This table shows the number of:

valid near coastal certificates issued by AMSA
near coastal seafarers qualified to work on Australian domestic commercial vessels (DCVs).

Near coastal	November 2022		November 2023		December 2024
Near coastal	Certificates	Seafarers	Certificates	Seafarers	Certificates	Seafarers
Deck³	28,500	25,177	29,691	27,325	33,264	30,589
Engine³	12,598	11,822	12,703	12,278	13,135	12,704
Total	41,098¹	26,912²	42,394¹	29,039²	46,399¹	32,268²

Notes

¹The number of certificates of competency issued for near coastal seafarers is significantly higher than the number of international certificates issued. That’s because it’s far more common for seafarers to have dual engineering and deck certification when working in the domestic industry.

²Many near coastal seafarers hold both deck and engine certification. Seafarers that have both a deck and engine CoC are counted in both the deck and engine category, while the total represents the total number of seafarers.

³On 1 January 2023, the revised Marine Order 505 took effect. This Marine Order amended the names of several certificates of competency and introduced new certificates of competency. These figures conform to the certification framework in the latest version of Marine Order 505.

Learn more about how to interpret this data.

What is a domestic CoC?

Seafarers holding domestic CoCs can work on Australian DCVs out to the limit of the exclusive economic zone of Australia. Certification determines the position they can hold, and size or power rating of the vessels they can work on.

International – Standards of training certification and watchkeeping (STCW) CoCs

This table shows the number of:

valid STCW certificates issued by AMSA
seafarers who hold SCTCS certificates issued by AMSA.

STCW	November 2022		November 2023		December 2024
STCW	Certificates	Seafarers	Certificates	Seafarers	Certificates	Seafarers
Deck	2,271	2,027	2,460	2,222	2,525	2,269
Engine	1,662	1,435	1,761	1,557	1,972	1,712
Total	3,933	3,462	4,221	3,778	4,497	3,980

Other international certificates	November 2022		November 2023		December 2024
Other international certificates	Certificates	Seafarers	Certificates	Seafarers	Certificates	Seafarers
Certificates of proficiency⁴	2,271	2,171	2,267	2,237	2,492	2,431
Certificate of training safety (COST)⁴	Not recorded	Not recorded	6,328	6,312	7,005	6,997

Notes

⁴Added for 2024.

Learn more about how to interpret the data.

What is an international CoC?

Seafarers holding international CoCs can work on international trading ships. Certification determines the position they can hold, and the size and type of vessels they can work on.

Full reports

Download detailed reports that show:

numbers of active CoCs by individual certificate
demographic information, such as the age and gender of certificate holders.

Seafarer certification statistics – 2024 PDF1.61 MB

Seafarer certification statistics – 2023 PDF1.42 MB

Seafarer certification statistics – 2022 PDF1.29 MB

How to interpret the data

All data provided should be used as a ‘point in time estimation’ of the number of seafarers and certification held.

The data may be ambiguous. When using it, keep in mind that:

many seafarers hold more than one certificate, and some seafarers hold both near coastal and STCW certification
some seafarers hold more than one of the same certificate at a point in time. This is due to the renewal cycles for certificates where a new certificate is issued before a current certificate has expired.
AMSA inherited data from other maritime agencies when the national system was established
naming conventions, changes to certificate names, and complexities in endorsements, mean that the data has been grouped in some places.