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How to verify a manning agency

Manning-agency verification is the single most leveraged step a seafarer can take to avoid recruitment-fee scams, fake job offers, contract substitution, and forced-labour indicators. The verification is 10 minutes of effort that saves thousands of dollars + months of unwound time. Run this chain before sending any document, any payment, or any signed reply to any recruiter.

Step 1 — Demand the licence number

Ask the recruiter, in writing, for the agency's full legal name, licence number, and licensing regulator. ILO Convention 181 + MLC Standard A1.4 require every seafarer recruitment-and-placement service to be licensed or otherwise regulated by the country in which it operates. A real agency answers in one message; a scam recruiter changes the subject, claims "the licence is in process", or insists "the licence doesn't apply in your country." All three are walk-aways.

Step 2 — Cross-check the regulator's public directory

Every major seafarer-supplying country publishes its licensed-agency directory online. Search by name + licence number; if the agency isn't there, it isn't licensed.

Cross-check the agency's published address against the address on the licence record. A mismatch means either the agency moved without updating its licence (annoying but legitimate) or the agency is impersonating a real one (walk away).

Step 3 — Cross-check on Seafarer Index

The manning-agency registry aggregates the major regulator's public directories for cross-check from one place. The page also flags licence status, principal shipowners (where published), and contact details.

Step 4 — Demand the principal shipowner

MLC Standard A2.1 requires the shipowner (not just the manning agent) to be named on the Seafarer Employment Agreement (SEA). Ask the recruiter for the principal's full corporate name + address + corporate phone before any commitment. A real agency provides this; a scam recruiter is vague ("a major operator", "a European owner").

Cross-check the named principal on /companies, on the principal's official corporate website, and via the corporate-registry searches in How to verify a shipping company.

Step 5 — Demand the vessel name + IMO

Real recruiters name the vessel + IMO before any signed commitment. Refusal to name the vessel is the single most reliable scam indicator. Verify the vessel by IMO on /ships and on the flag-state register. Confirm the vessel's flag, owner, and class match what the offer says.

Step 6 — Confirm no fees are charged

ILO Convention 181 + MLC Standard A1.4(5)(b) prohibit charging seafarers for placement. Any fee — "recruitment", "training", "medical", "visa", "processing", "documentation" — is a regulatory violation. Tied-training requirements (the agency insists on training at a specific provider) are recognised by major regulators as fee-charging in disguise.

PEME costs are the shipowner's under MLC A1.4(5)(b). Visa application fees go directly to the consulate. A real agency reimburses or arranges these; a scam recruiter collects them.

Step 7 — Demand a written SEA before flying

MLC A2.1 requires a signed SEA + a reasonable opportunity to examine it before signing. Real agencies send the SEA to you for review before flying. Scam recruiters "will give it to you at the gangway" — which is the moment the contract is substituted with worse terms. See /help/my-contract-was-changed.

Step 8 — Run the structured tools

Red flags that should stop the conversation

If you've already paid a fee

See /scams/what-to-do-if-you-paid-a-scammer — stop further payments, save the evidence, report to the bank + the national regulator + ISWAN + the ITF.

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