Frequently asked questions about maritime crew management

Crew2Sea is a B2B maritime crew matching platform for vessel operators and crewing agencies. It brings vacancy requirements, candidate submissions, matching information, document requests, status updates and placement records into one shared workflow.

A maritime crew matching platform connects vessel operators that need qualified crew with crewing agencies that manage seafarer pools. It structures the vacancy requirements, compares candidate information with those requirements and keeps both parties informed throughout the submission process.

Crew2Sea is being built for small to mid-sized vessel operators, ship managers and crewing agencies that currently coordinate hiring through email, WhatsApp, shared mailboxes and spreadsheets. It is particularly relevant when several agencies submit candidates for several vessels at the same time. Operators can also review the dedicated ship operator page.

The operator publishes a structured vacancy with vessel, rank, document, experience and joining requirements. Agencies review the live requirement, identify suitable and available seafarers and submit them through a shared pipeline where both parties can follow the decision status. Key maritime terms are defined in the glossary.

Crew management software usually focuses on the operator's vessels, crew complement, rotations and compliance. Manning agency software focuses on seafarer pools, availability, documents and placements. Crew2Sea connects these two workflows so the operator and agency can work from the same vacancy and submission information without exposing their private internal data.

No. Crew2Sea is a software platform, not a recruitment agency, employer or crew supplier. Vessel operators remain responsible for hiring decisions, and crewing agencies remain responsible for their seafarer relationships and submissions.

Crew2Sea is being developed in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for maritime businesses working internationally. The platform is intended to support cooperation between vessel operators and crewing agencies across different crewing hubs and operating regions. You can read more on the About page.

Shipping companies often rely on existing relationships, referrals, email and direct calls. Crew2Sea gives operators a structured agency network where relationships can be organized by priority, status and effective dates, while vacancies can be released to the appropriate agencies in controlled phases.

The right system should provide structured vacancy publishing, multi-agency submissions, document tracking, candidate comparison, crew-change visibility and a clear fleet manning overview without requiring an enterprise-scale implementation. Crew2Sea is being designed around those needs for small and mid-sized operators.

Operators can reduce unsuitable submissions by defining the vacancy in detail and requiring agencies to submit against the same structured criteria. Crew2Sea can compare position, vessel experience, documents, licences, visas, approvals, availability and other entered profile data before the candidate reaches the operator. See the operator workflow for more detail.

A structured vacancy should include rank, vessel type, required certificates, licences, experience, joining window, contract dates, language requirements, visas and any vessel- or client-specific approvals. This replaces informal vacancy briefs sent separately by email or WhatsApp.

Crew2Sea places all submissions for a vacancy in one pipeline with consistent statuses. Operators can see which agency submitted each candidate, what information is complete, what requires clarification and how long the submission has been waiting for a decision.

The planned visibility workflow allows an operator to release a vacancy in phases. Priority agencies can receive it first, followed by connected agencies and, where appropriate, a wider network, helping operators preserve important agency relationships without immediately creating an uncontrolled submission flood.

Yes. Structured profiles make it possible to compare candidates against the same vacancy requirements rather than reviewing unrelated CV formats in separate emails. The final hiring decision remains with the operator.

Crew2Sea is designed to connect vessel records, required complement, onboard crew, open positions and active vacancy pipelines. This gives fleet and crewing teams an at-a-glance view of which vessels are fully covered and which still require action.

A crewing agency platform should combine structured seafarer profiles, documents, availability, vacancy requirements and submission status. Crew2Sea gives agencies a shared submission workflow with operators instead of requiring every candidate package to be assembled and followed up separately by email.

The first step is to replace disconnected spreadsheets, document folders, Word CVs, shared mailboxes and manual status lists with structured seafarer and vacancy data. Crew2Sea is intended to connect those activities without forcing the agency to expose its complete private candidate database. The crewing agency page explains the agency workflow.

Connected and eligible agencies can see vacancy requirements made available to them by operators. This gives agencies a clearer view of current demand and reduces dependence on repeated calls, cold outreach and BCC vacancy emails.

A shared vacancy status lets agencies see whether a position is still open before beginning extensive matching work. When the operator contracts a candidate or closes the vacancy, the workflow can update the other submissions instead of leaving agencies to discover the outcome later.

Crew2Sea can calculate a match indication using the vacancy requirements and the information recorded in the seafarer profile. The agency can review missing documents, experience gaps, availability and other requirements before deciding whether to submit.

Each submission follows visible stages such as Submitted, Under Review, Clarification Required, Shortlisted, Offered, Contracted or Rejected. This helps agencies manage candidate expectations and reduces repeated requests for status updates.

The planned agency workspace combines structured profiles, document records, expiry dates, availability windows, placement status and sea-service information. Agencies can therefore search for deployable candidates without comparing several spreadsheets and document folders.

Crew2Sea is intended to generate a consistent CV from structured seafarer profile data. This can reduce repeated manual reformatting while preserving the underlying structured information used for matching and document tracking.

The planned pipeline includes Submitted, Under Review, Clarification Required, Shortlisted, Offered, Contracted and Rejected. Both parties can follow shared status changes while retaining their own private notes and internal decisions.

The match indication uses the vacancy requirements and the data available in the seafarer profile. Depending on the vacancy, this can include rank, vessel experience, certificates, licence limits, visas, approvals, availability, passport, medical and seaman-book information.

No. A match score is a decision-support signal based on available data; it is not a hiring decision, reference check, medical assessment or legal compliance opinion. The operator and agency must still review the candidate and verify the information relevant to the placement.

Before submitting, the agency can be required to confirm that the seafarer is contactable and available for the vacancy's joining window. This reduces submissions involving candidates who have already accepted another assignment or cannot join on the required date.

Shared information can include vacancy requirements, submitted candidate data, requested files, messages and submission status. Each organization's private notes, unrelated records and internal decision information remain separate.

Yes. A document request can be attached to the relevant submission so the agency knows exactly what is missing. The completed request and shared file remain connected to the candidate and vacancy instead of becoming another disconnected email attachment.

When a candidate is contracted and the vacancy is closed, the remaining submissions can be closed or rejected through the workflow. This helps prevent agencies and seafarers from waiting indefinitely for an outcome.

STCW-oriented software helps organizations record required certificates, licence limits, issue and expiry dates and other qualification data. It can identify missing or expiring information and compare recorded data with vacancy or contract requirements, but it does not replace the operator's compliance responsibility.

No. Crew2Sea can support document extraction, structured recording, expiry tracking and requirement matching, but it does not independently authenticate certificates with issuing authorities. For more on document workflows, see Compliance.

A certificate may be valid on the joining date but expire while the seafarer is still onboard. Checking against the expected contract end date identifies this risk before placement and allows the operator or agency to take the appropriate action.

The platform is designed to record documents such as Certificates of Competency, Certificates of Proficiency, STCW training records, passports, medical certificates, seaman books, visas, endorsements and relevant client or project approvals. The exact requirements remain dependent on rank, vessel, flag state, trading area and employer policy.

An expiry radar groups documents by the number of days remaining and allows teams to filter by document type, seafarer or vessel. This helps agencies manage their wider crew pool and helps operators focus on documents affecting crew already assigned to a vessel.

Crew2Sea is intended to let operators define document and qualification requirements relevant to the vacancy and contract. It can support structured checking against those requirements, but it does not replace legal advice, flag-state instructions, collective agreements or the operator's formal compliance procedures.

A structured submission workflow can preserve status changes, document requests, messages and placement outcomes in one record. This is more traceable than information distributed across email, WhatsApp, shared folders and individual spreadsheets.

Controlled file sharing can limit how long a shared document remains available to the receiving party. This supports more deliberate document handling than sending permanent uncontrolled copies through ordinary email.

The planned vessel view combines the required complement with current onboard crew and open positions. Crewing teams can see whether the vessel is fully covered without reconciling several spreadsheets.

Crew-change information can connect off-signing dates, replacement status, joining dates and active vacancies. This helps teams identify a missing replacement before the vessel becomes short-handed.

Placement history can be used to calculate historical fill times by vessel or vacancy type. This gives crewing teams a benchmark for identifying positions that are already taking longer than expected.

Yes. A vessel's open positions can be connected to the relevant vacancy, submissions and visibility phase. This keeps fleet context and candidate decisions together rather than separating them into unrelated systems.

The data model is intended for commercial and specialist vessel operations, including bulk carriers, container ships, tankers, gas and LNG carriers, Ro-Ro vessels, offshore support vessels, dredgers, workboats, ferries and other vessel types. Actual requirements are configured per vessel and vacancy.

Crew2Sea can represent officer and rating positions such as Master, Chief Officer, deck officers, Chief Engineer, engineering officers, ETO, Bosun, Able Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, Pumpman, Cadet, Cook and Steward. Operators define the exact rank and qualification requirements for each vacancy.

A shared submission platform keeps the vacancy, candidate, documents, messages and decision status in one record. Email and messaging may still be used for notifications, but they no longer need to serve as the primary system of record.

A structured crewing platform can connect seafarer profiles, documents, availability, vessels, vacancies and placements. Unlike a spreadsheet, it can maintain relationships between those records and surface actions such as expiring documents or unanswered submissions.

Generic recruitment software usually does not model vessel types, maritime ranks, STCW certificates, licence limitations, joining windows, rotations, flag-state requirements or onboard contract periods. Maritime crewing requires those concepts to be part of the underlying workflow rather than stored only in free-text notes.

Many systems are built for either the vessel operator or the manning agency. Crew2Sea is designed as a shared workflow between both sides, while keeping each organization's internal data and private notes separate.

The product design includes controlled visibility, role-based access, limited document sharing and access-expiry controls. Final public claims about GDPR compliance should reflect the completed privacy policy, processor agreements, retention rules, security measures and production hosting configuration.

No. An operator should see the profiles and documents intentionally submitted or shared for the relevant workflow, not the agency's full private candidate pool.

No. Agencies should receive the vacancy and supporting information that the operator makes available to them. Private fleet information, internal notes and unrelated vacancies remain under the operator's control.

No. Each side can maintain internal notes that are visible only within its own organization. Shared communication should use the submission message thread.

Yes. The platform is being designed for operators and agencies working across international crewing hubs, vessel flags, trading regions and joining locations. Document and eligibility requirements must still be configured for the specific contract and operation.

Public pricing has not yet been activated on the website. Commercial plans and included functionality should be confirmed directly with Crew2Sea through the contact page rather than presenting unconfirmed prices here.

Yes. Crew2Sea is available for vessel operators and crewing agencies that want to use a shared workflow for vacancies, submissions and crew documents. Use the contact page to register interest or ask how your organization should join.

Not necessarily. Crew2Sea can serve as the shared vacancy and submission layer between operators and agencies while existing systems continue to handle other internal functions. Integration and migration requirements should be assessed based on each organization's current tools.