Polar Water endorsement

Find information for the Polar Water endorsement, including how to apply and pay for your endorsement, and where to find more help.

The endorsements are valid for five years and can be renewed.

With this endorsement, you can work on SOLAS ships or ships over 45 meters in Polar Waters and perform duties to the designated level (basic or advanced).

Basic polar water endorsement

With a basic polar water endorsement you can perform the privileges of your certificate of competency in polar waters that are open waters and to be in charge of a navigational watch on ships in polar waters.

Advanced polar water endorsement

With an advanced polar water endorsement you can perform the privileges of your certificate of competency in polar waters and to be in charge of a navigational watch on ships in polar waters. To qualify for an advanced endorsement, you must first have gained a basic polar water endorsement.

 

Requirements

To get the basic or advanced polar waters endorsement, you need to prove that you meet all of the requirements.

Each of these requirements and how to prove that you meet them is explained in the full guideline below.

Polar water endorsement [PDF: 274kB, 14 pages]

 

Cost

The application fee for this certificate is $368, which includes goods and services tax (GST).

 

Application process

This is the application process for this certificate of competency.

1. Do you meet all the requirements?

  • You need to check that you meet all of the requirements for this certificate.

2. Do you have the documents we need?

You need to prove that you meet the requirements. Include all of the documents we have asked for with your application form. Use the checklist in the guideline to help you.

Remember we need copies, not the originals.

3. Send us your application by courier or email

There are two options for you to send your application:

  1. Send your application by email, attaching the scanned documents. The application form has information about the requirements for electronic copies.
  2. Use a courier to send us your completed application forms, supporting documents.

The addresses are on the application form.

4. Confirmation and/or request sent

We will send you an email or letter to confirm that we have received your application and advise you of any documents we need from you before we can assess your application.

We must receive your payment before we can finalise your application.

5. Assessment and payment of application fee

Once you have sent us all the documents we need, we will assess your application and make a decision. 

We will send you an invoice with your reference number and information on how to pay the application fee once we begin the assessment. Please note we cannot release your certificate unless payment has been received.

6. Issue certificate

We will send you:

  • your certificate, if your application has been successful, or
  • a letter or email explaining why your application was unsuccessful.

 

Contact us for more help

If you have any questions about seafarer certification, please contact our Personnel Certification team.

Phone:

New Zealand (toll free):
0508 SEACERT or 0508 732 237

Calling from outside New Zealand:
+64 4 473 0111

Email:

seafarers@maritimenz.govt.nz
Tell us what you need help with and remember to include your contact details (email address and phone numbers).