MARINER FINED FOR FORGERY

20 Apr 2012 02:08 PM At a hearing recently at Southampton Magistrates Court, Boorzeen Murzban Dantra was fined a total of £7,603.21 including costs and a victim surcharge. He had pleaded guilty to charges relating to breaches of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.

In January 2011 Dantra had applied to sit an Orals Examination for a Masters Certificate of Competency (CoC). The application was supported by discharge certificates and watchkeeping certificates showing service on two anchor handling vessels and totalled 19 months. This was accepted and the appropriate documentation was issued. In early October 2011, Dantra came to the attention of the Enforcement Unit of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Based on information received, checks showed that, in fact, Dantra had been serving on an Offshore Floating Storage Unit (FSO). The owners of the anchor handling vessels confirmed that Dantra had never worked on one of their vessels. The discharge and watchkeeping certificates provided by Dantra were therefore fraudulent. When interviewed Dantra admitted that he had been working on the FSO rather than the anchor handlers. Investigations showed that his time on the FSO did not fulfil the sea time requirements to sit the exam for his Masters CoC.

Time on FSOs counts only as half sea time towards a qualification issued by the MCA up to a maximum of nine months. This is clearly set out in Marine Guidance Note (MGN) 92. Dantra was aware of these rules following problems with his previous application for examinations for Chief Mates CoC.

Dantra was charged with submitting a false application contrary to section 47 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and two charges of using a false instrument contrary to section 3 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.

Dantra pleaded guilty to all charges and was fined £7,603.21 in total. Dantra was given until the 18 October 2012 to pay; this penalty is subject to a 90 day committal order.

The Chairman of the Bench said:

This is a worrying offence as lots of us travel by sea, we expect properly qualified masters to be in charge.

Captain Roger Towner, Head of Seafarer Services and Ship Registry at MCA said:

The MCA takes a very serious view of the actions of Mr Dantra. A Master Certificate of Competency places great trust and responsibility on the holder. His attempt to defraud the certificate structure devalues the certificate that others have worked hard to achieve.

By using false information about his sea time to get around internationally agreed requirements for obtaining seafarers certification Dantra would have potentially placed his vessel, his fellow seafarers and the public at risk.