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Old 01-11-2007, 08:03 AM   #1
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Default Seaman (woman) book?

I am considering applying for a seaman book to ease visa requirements in various countries. Having a EU passport does not create too many problems but my wife Thai passport makes the logistic more complicated and more costly as it requires flying to various capital to obtain visa. I was under the impression that a Panama embassy would help with minimum paperwork and reasonable fees. Has anyone tried that route and found the most efficient way? Any tricks to be aware of?

Thanks and Fair Winds.
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Old 01-11-2007, 03:07 PM   #2
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Hi,

I assume that by Seamans book you mean a Seaman's Discharge Book. There is a convention covering the issuance of such documents (ILO Convention No. 108)by which a Seaman's Discharge Book can be issued to a merchant seaman. This excludes, for example, officers and crew of warships, other state owned ships such as coast guard vessels or customs vessels, fishing vessels and pleasure yachts. In other words, a Seaman's Discharge Book may only be issued to a genuine merchant seaman. Also, a Seaman's Discharge Book valid for international travel for your wife would have to be issued by Thai aouthorities.

For international travel, a Seaman's Discharge Book is valid only when flying to join or leave a vessel and grants no other rights to the holder than that. The implication here is that it can be equivilent to a transit visa but never a normal visa to remain in country for purposes other than the journey to or from a vessel.

Further, if when serving on board a vessel, that vessel visits a foreign port then a Seaman's Discharge Book grants no right to visit ashore, although this is normally allowed. However, shore leave is normally restricted to the port's main town. In other words, if a vessel were loading at Curtis Bay you would be allowed to visit Baltimore but not New York.

Also, you must consider that if visiting a foreign country on a pleasure yacht the authorities may not accept a Seaman's Discharge book. Indeed, if a pleasure yach turnes up in a foreign port and the crew start producing discharge books as evidence of nationality, the authorities have a case for classing the vessel as a merchant vessel and imposing such levies, dues and restrictions as apply on that vessel. Instead of paying for a visit to a consular office you could end up paying light and harbour dues at commercial rates and pilotage fees as well as having to produce commercial ship's officers certificates to back up your claim as being a merchant seaman. You may also find the authorities asking for such things as Load Line Certificate, Cargo Ship Safety certificate, De-ratt certificate and many, many more.

Even when joining and leaving commercial vessels I used my passport rather than my discharge book as it was far simpler and the immigration authorities were much happier and more familiar with passports than discharge books.

So, all in all, my advice is not to go the Discharge Book way but to stick to the passport and budget for visiting embassies.

Yours aye,

Stephen

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Old 01-11-2007, 08:35 PM   #3
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Stephen,

Thanks for the info. It is a bit of an eye opener on the cons as there are not many pros. Fair point about having the Yacht reclassified as a merchant vessel and related fees that could offset to cost of travelling to get visa.

Yemen? I spent a bit of time there some 12 years ago, best of luck.

Fair winds,
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Old 01-12-2007, 05:02 PM   #4
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Hi again,

Indeed, the cons to outweigh the pros on the surface. The main value of a Seaman's Discharge Book is that it is a record of service and before the days of computerised registers of ships and seamen was proof to an examining authority that a seaman had sufficient seatime to take and hold a certificate of competency. At one time, it was also a certficate of ability and conduct.

I discussed this issue yesterday with a friend of mine (a coast guard officer) whol also pointed out that discharge books lack the security devices found in passports and can thus be more easily forged. Immigration authorities therefore examine such documents and their holders very carefully. In fact, if using seamen's documents to enter a 'Schengen' country, the ship's agent must inform the competent authority of the country of entery at least 24 hours in advance. You can find more about this at http://www.kbv.se/kbvtemplates/Page.aspx?id=195 .

All the best,

Stephen

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Old 06-14-2011, 11:00 AM   #5
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hi,

I also have the same problem because i'm a philippine passport holder and i always have trouble applying for a visa that's why my husband and i wanted to apply for a seaman's book also because we thought it would help us visit foreign countries easier. My question is, if we visit a foreign country which requires a visa for me to enter am I allowed to go onshore in that country and apply for a visa in the consulate office and just go back stay onboard to wait for the visa approval? or is it allowed for somebody like my husband or travel agent or customs agent to apply a visa for me if i'm not allowed to enter in that country without a visa?

i hope somebody will be able to enlighten us about this problem.
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Old 06-14-2011, 11:38 AM   #6
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[QUOTE=angelie;1308049244]

hi,

I also have the same problem because i'm a philippine passport holder and i always have trouble applying for a visa that's why my husband and i wanted to apply for a seaman's book also because we thought it would help us visit foreign countries easier. My question is, if we visit a foreign country which requires a visa for me to enter am I allowed to go onshore in that country and apply for a visa in the consulate office and just go back stay onboard to wait for the visa approval? or is it allowed for somebody like my husband or travel agent or customs agent to apply a visa for me if i'm not allowed to enter in that country without a visa?

i hope somebody will be able to enlighten us about this problem.

Gooday 'angelie' - Welcome on board & to our little 'mob' - g'day cobber/mate (hubby). Sure hope people 'jump-in-here' & help you out. I, personally don't know but I want to get to know so evereything you find out in here will be a great help. Y'all have a great time & do remember to come back & keep the conversation going, Please. That will allow some of us time to do some home-work especially here in Australia. Ciao for now & good sailing & great times to y'all. james - - Tell us about your yacht & your plans, I'm sure it will be interesting for all of us, & to get to know you. jj

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Old 06-14-2011, 10:01 PM   #7
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Angelie,

With a few exceptions, none of which would apply to a Philippine national, one must apply for a visa OUTSIDE of the country you wish to enter. In other words, you cannot enter the country without having the visa in your passport already. So, you must go to an embassy or consulate in a country you are in to obtain a visa for your next port of call. To fail to do so will usually mean that you, and the boat, would be required to leave the country within 24 hours. Sometimes even worse penalties would be applied.

The relaxed days of cruising with few worries have been squashed by the political tensions popping up everywhere, even the once-laid back islands of Fiji.
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