Merchant Navy official websites and useful links

The official Merchant Navy website in India is dgma.gov.in, run by DG Shipping (now DGMA). Use it for rules, approved institutes and checking a recruitment agent. Use imu.edu.in for IMU-CET. This page lists only government and official international websites.

Not the Indian Navy: joinindiannavy.gov.in is for the Indian Navy, a defence service. It does not cover the Merchant Navy.

Each entry says what the site is for and where it falls short. We checked every link on 4 November 2026. Marine One is not linked to any of these websites.

Official websites in India

• DG Shipping (now DGMA) dgma.gov.in Use it for: The official rules, circulars, approved training institutes and exam notices. Limit: Most documents are PDF files, and the site is hard to search.
• List of valid, invalid and suspended recruitment agencies dgma.gov.in Use it for: Checking an agent before you pay money or hand over documents. Limit: Search by the exact company name or licence number. A valid licence does not prove that a job offer is real.
• Certificate checkers dgma.gov.in Use it for: Checking that a CDC (Continuous Discharge Certificate), INDoS number or CoC (Certificate of Competency) is genuine. The links are on the DGMA home page. Limit: The checker pages are old, open on a separate server and are not built for phones.
• Approved institutes and their grades dgma.gov.in Use it for: Checking that a training institute is approved and how it was graded. Limit: It is a yearly report in PDF form. It does not list fees or seats.
• Indian Maritime University (IMU) imu.edu.in Use it for: The IMU-CET (Common Entrance Test) notice, application form and results. Limit: It covers IMU-CET courses only. Many institutes run their own entrance tests.

International rules

• International Maritime Organization (IMO): STCW imo.org Use it for: Understanding STCW, the international standard behind every seafarer certificate. Limit: It is a summary only. The full convention is a paid publication.
• International Labour Organization (ILO): Maritime Labour Convention 2006 ilo.org Use it for: Seafarer rights on wages, rest hours, food and the journey home. Limit: It is legal text. Indian rules apply on top of it.

Check before you pay an agent

• Find the agency on the DGMA list yourself. Do not trust a screenshot sent on WhatsApp.
• Be careful of offers that promise a job for certain, ask for urgent payment or ask you to pay into a personal bank account.
• Do not hand your passport or CDC to anyone you have not checked.
• The shipowner pays for visas, the medical checks at joining and leaving, and the journey home. You pay only for your own medical certificate, CDC and passport.
• A licensed agency must tell you in advance about any cost you will have to pay.

Sources

• Merchant Shipping (Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers) Rules, 2026, rule 21(j) and (r), and inspection checklist item 3.16 (DGMA).
• Website links and descriptions checked on 4 November 2026.