How to check a manning agency

A step-by-step verification process for any recruiter — combining the regulator licence directory, the principal cross-check, the vessel verification, and the wage / SEA reality check.

What it looks like

The opposite of a scam — a checklist you run on every agency before sending a document or signing an offer.

Red flags

• Cannot answer the licence-number question in one message.
• Refuses video call from a corporate-branded background.
• Cannot supply the principal shipowner's name + a vessel IMO before commitment.
• Asks for any payment to secure the job.
• Office address that does not match the licence record.

How to verify

• Ask for the agency's full legal name, licence number, and licensing regulator. Real agencies answer this in one message.
• Look up the agency in the regulator's online directory — POEA/DMW (Philippines), DG Shipping (India), DGST/Hubla (Indonesia), Maradmin (Ukraine), MMD (Pakistan), Mercantile Marine Branch (Sri Lanka), Vinamarine (Vietnam). The directory is the single source of truth.
• Cross-check the agency's published address with the licence record.
• Confirm the corporate phone number — call from a number the recruiter did not give you.
• Look up the principal shipowner on [/companies](/companies) and on the principal's own corporate site.
• Verify the vessel by IMO on [/ships](/ships) and on the flag-state register.
• Compare the offered wage against [/salaries](/salaries) using [the wage checker](/tools/wage-checker).
• Confirm the financial-security certificate (MLC A2.5.2 + A4.2.1) — ask which P&I cover applies.
• Ask a working seafarer who has sailed with the agency — your union, ISWAN, or the [forum](/community) are good starting points.
• Read the SEA before flying. Run it through [the contract red-flag checker](/tools/contract-red-flag-checker).

Last verified 5 months ago