Whether a cadet is looking for entry level jobs or a Master has decades of sea time to their name, one thing seafarers know is that their chosen profession comes with a lot of paperwork!

From seafarer resumes to seaman books to various documents and STCW certificates – all of these need to be carefully stored to keep them safe.

But working in seafarer jobs means someone is almost always in different places. They might be on the way to their next job, they might be docked in a port on the other side of the world, they could be in the middle of the ocean, or they could be enjoying some downtime at home with family.

And all of that travel makes it all too easy to lose things – including passports or other documents and certificates.

We all know that losing something in transit can be a nightmare to sort out. Losing luggage is bad enough, but losing seafarer documents can have very real implications and unleash a whole set of problems.

How SaaS helps seafarers who lose documents when traveling

So wouldn’t it make sense to try and prevent the problem from happening – or at least make it less of a pain to deal with if a seafarer does lose any of their documents when traveling?

Of course it does! And the answer is to store documents safely and securely online. But how?

Photocopying documents, passports, seaman’s books and visas is obviously always a good move. As is making more than one copy so that a set can be kept with the traveler and another set left at home. 

But now, storing certificates and travel documents securely in the Cloud is also an option and is highly recommended.

When paperwork is stored online it gives anyone who’s lost it, another way to access their crucial information. A must when rushing to catch flights and meet embarkation dates!

The benefits of storing seafarer documents online

There are multiple benefits to keeping an online backup of documents and certificates in the Cloud:

• When documents are stored in the Cloud (instead of in a folder on a PC) they can be accessed from anywhere in the world on any device. 
• The Cloud is a permanent storage method and anything stored in it can’t be lost. Documents will be there until deleted.
• The Cloud is safe and secure which means no one can steal documents.
• A seafarer can prove to an employer or manning agent that they hold the documentation that they say they do by showing them the copies stored in the Cloud, even if they don’t have a certain piece of paperwork with them at that time.
• It makes it easier to apply for jobs at sea online. 

So that brings us to the billion dollar question: how and where can a seafarer store their documents online?

Luckily Martide has the answer. In fact, Martide is the answer!

How Martide can make life easier

We know that applying for jobs, keeping track of job applications, lining up new contracts, organizing paperwork, getting to a vessel, and all that other life admin can take a good deal of time and effort. That’s why we try to make life as simple as possible for busy seafarers.

To prove how simple it is to store documents online, we’ll break it down into 3 simple steps:

1. Register an account with Martide.
2. Create a seafarer profile and enter personal info and work experience – this acts as an online resume for a seafarer.
3. Upload copies of the seaman’s book, passport, STCW certificates and other documents. 

Plus, once those 3 steps are taken care of, it’s easy to start applying for our seafarer job vacancies. 

That’s because all of a seafarer’s documents (and their resume) are stored on our platform, an application will be sent immediately to the employer or manning agent. 

And we have one more piece of good news: seafarers only need to do this once. They won’t have to fill in their details for every job and every application. It’s all there stored in the Cloud and on Martide’s platform ready and waiting.

The only thing to do is to add new seafarer skills if acquired, make changes to employment status (looking, not actively looking etc.) and update any new copies of documents. We even send seafarers a short email to remind them when their documents are about to expire.

Martide makes finding work at sea faster, easier, more convenient, and more secure.

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