The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) has busted a major forgery racket involving the creation and use of fake Certificates of Competency (CoCs)—critical documents required to secure jobs on ships. The Kanjurmarg Police have registered a case after DG Shipping officials detected multiple fraudulent entries in the national certification system.
The scam surfaced when officials noticed that candidate Mishal Anand, whose CoC booklet number had been uploaded into the system, had never appeared for the mandatory examination. A deeper probe revealed that the suspicious entry had been made using login credentials belonging to the Kolkata examination centre.
During a detailed technical and nautical audit, DG Shipping found that two login IDs were used to upload a large number of fraudulent records into the system. The investigation uncovered 46 fake entries in the engineering department and 56 in the nautical department, raising serious concerns about systemic abuse.
To verify the extent of the crime, DG Shipping traced the employment status of the candidates linked to the suspected entries and collected 24 CoC copies from different shipping companies. Of these, three booklets were confirmed as completely forged, while the remaining were suspected to be based on manipulated digital entries uploaded into the government system.
Officials said that the accused individuals allegedly obtained fraudulent CoCs—qualifications required for critical shipboard roles such as chief engineer, second engineer, and electro-technical officer (ETO)—and used them to secure employment without taking the mandatory examinations, posing severe risks to maritime safety.
DG Shipping has tightened access controls and initiated corrective measures to prevent further misuse. A full-scale investigation is underway to identify all beneficiaries and insiders involved in the racket. Authorities indicated that more arrests and departmental actions may follow as the probe widens.