A new Vietnamese law for seafarer training and crewing came into force on 1 November 2026. It is Government Decree 348/2026/ND-CP, signed on 8 September 2026. The text is on the Vietnamese government's legal documents portal.
The decree replaces Decree 29/2017. It covers two groups. The first group is training centres that run courses under STCW. STCW is the international convention on training, certificates and watchkeeping for seafarers. The second group is crewing agencies that recruit Vietnamese seafarers for ships abroad.
The decree is about these centres and agencies. It does not set new rules for the certificates that seafarers hold.
Rules for training centres
A centre needs a Certificate of Compliance from the Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration (VMWA). A list of the approved courses is attached to this certificate.
The centre must have a valid ISO 9001 or ISO 21001 certificate. These are international standards for quality management.
The centre must keep a database of its training and the certificates it issues. People must be able to check these records, as STCW requires. The database must connect to the national seafarer database of the maritime authority.
Teachers of theory need a university degree in a related subject.
Teachers of practical training need an instructor certificate under STCW rule I/6. They also need a certificate of competency (CoC) of at least Chief Officer on ships of 3,000 GT or more. The other option is a CoC of at least Second Engineer on ships with 3,000 kW or more of main engine power. GT means gross tonnage, a measure of ship size.
If a centre does not meet these conditions, the authority can stop the course that fails. The decision must be published on the authority's website. A centre can lose its certificate if it gave false information or ran no training for 18 months in a row. Then it must stop training and protect the financial rights of its students.
The maritime authority will check the whole training system every five years. Between these checks, each centre will be inspected at least once.
Rules for crewing agencies
The agency must have a licence to send Vietnamese workers abroad under contract.
It must have an ISO 9001 certificate. It must also meet Regulation 1.4 of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC). This MLC rule is about recruitment and placement services.
Then a VMWA branch office gives it a Certificate of Endorsement. The office should decide within three working days after it gets a complete application.
The names of agencies with this certificate will be published on the website of the branch office and of the VMWA.
The Certificate of Endorsement is not valid longer than the agency's ISO certificate or its licence.
Under the MLC, an agency must not make seafarers pay for recruitment or for getting a job. The seafarer pays only for some personal documents. These are a national medical certificate, a seafarer's book and a passport. Visa costs are paid by the shipowner.
What changes now and what stays
Certificates that centres and agencies got before 1 November 2026 stay valid until they expire or are reissued. Applications that the authority received before 1 November follow the old rules.
Centres that train GMDSS radio operators can keep their old course programmes until 28 February 2027. GMDSS is the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. From 1 March 2027, they must use the programme set by the Minister of Construction.
The Ministry of Construction also removed two separate procedures for reissuing these certificates, the newspaper Báo Xây dựng reported. Under the decree, an online application with missing documents must get a reply within 8 working hours. The English text is on the Thư Viện Pháp Luật legal website.
What Vietnamese seafarers can do
Before you pay for a course, ask the training centre for its Certificate of Compliance. Check that your course is on the attached list. You can find news and decisions on the VMWA website.
Ask if the course has been stopped by the authority. Stopped courses are announced on the authority's website.
After the course, check that your certificate can be found in the official records. Our guide on [how to check if a seafarer certificate is genuine]({GC}) shows how this works in other countries.
Before you sign with a crewing agency, ask for its licence to send workers abroad and its Certificate of Endorsement. Check that the agency's name is on the VMWA list.
Do not pay an agency for a job. Our guide on how to check a crewing agency licence and spot a fake job offer lists more warning signs.
Look for work through companies that show their details openly. You can browse vacancies for seafarers on Crewboard.
Cover photo: the container ship Maersk Sarat at the Hai Phong International Container Terminal, Vietnam, in July 2022. Photo: Nathan.cima, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources: Government of Vietnam: Decree 348/2026/ND-CP of 8 September 2026 (legal documents portal), Decree 348/2026/ND-CP, signed text (PDF, Vietnamese), Thư Viện Pháp Luật: Decree 348/2026/ND-CP, Vietnamese and English text, Báo Xây dựng via Vietnam.vn, 15 Oct 2026: Changes to licensing procedures for training and supplying maritime crew from 1 November, ILO: Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (PDF), Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration.
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