MARITIME TRAINING CENTER
Approved by Panama Maritime Authority

The MARITIME TRAINING CENTERS recognized by Panama are schools or educational centers specialized in the training of seafarers who meet the IMO requirements and issue diplomas or courses. In order to become a Panama-approved center, the applicant must make a formal request through a lawyer, followed by an administrative process to examine whether the particular center meets the requirements of the Panama Maritime Authority.

The qualification or titles of seafarers and officers who do not come from a Panama-approved Maritime Training Center will be subject to a more rigorous evaluation and there is no certainty that they could be useful to obtain a Panamanian Seaman Book.

So far, there is no MARITIME TRAINING CENTER recognized by Panama in France for sailors and officials. On the other hand, there are centers approved by Panama in other countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. Those interested in knowing the nearest location of one of these centers can consult the lists below.

However, persons holding a French school diploma or course will be recognized as long as it appears on the certificate that they are recognized by the French Maritime Authority. If the certificate does not include such information, the certificate will be outright rejected or qualified as defective since it has no value for the Panama Authorities.

There is a recent regulation on certificates of proficiency or its endorsement for seafarers and oil officers, which requires only certificates of courses issued by Maritime Training Centers recognized by AMP for Panamanian Seaman Book.

In addition, it is necessary to count with the fee of $ 40.00 dollars for the issue of certificates of aptitude or its endorsement of the corresponding Certificate of aptitude:

  • Basic Training in Oil and Chemical Freight Operations (Regulation V / 1-1, paragraph 2.2, section A-V / 1-1, paragraph 1 and table A-V / 1-1-1)
  • Advanced training on tanker loading operations (Regulation V / 1-1, paragraph 4.3, section A-V / 1-1, paragraph 2 and table A-V / 1-1-2)
  • Advanced training on shipments of chemical petroleum products (Regulation V / 1-1, paragraph 6.3, section A-V / 1-1, paragraph 3 and table A-V / 1-1-3)
  • Basic training in cargo operations of tanks for the transport of liquefied gas (Regulation V / 1-2, paragraph 2.2, section A-V / 1-2, paragraph 1 and Table A-V / 1-2-1)
  • Advanced training on cargoes in ships' liquefied gas tanks (Regulation V / 1-2, paragraph 4.3, section A-V / 1-2, paragraph 2 and Table A-V / 1-2-2)

The PMA will not issue course endorsement for the certificates listed above and in its place will issue the Certificate of Aptitude, in order to comply with the STCW'78 Convention.

The PMA will issue a Certificate of Aptitude only when the certificate comes from a Maritime Training Center approved by the PMA, or will issue the endorsement of the Certificate of Competence when the certificate is issued by the State, being part of the Convention. STCW'78 and not restricted by PMA.

Please find below the list of Maritime Training Centers approved by the MPA:

Entering the next link you will get to know the general and official information about requirements, prices, Maritime Training Center list in Panama and around the world with the information on courses they propose: https://panamashipregistry.com/seafarers/maritime-training/