Articles · for crewing agencies · Batumi
A digital archive of seafarers' documents
Passport, seaman's book, CoCs, STCW certificates, medicals, visas — every seafarer has dozens of documents, each with its own expiry. When scans sit in mailboxes, messengers and different PCs, finding one takes half an hour. Order is set up once.
Scanning
- A scanner with an automatic feeder and duplex scanning.
- PDF, 300 dpi, colour.
- Text recognition (OCR) so you can search by document number.
Names and folders
One rule for everyone, for example Surname_Name_document_expiry.pdf — Beridze_Giorgi_passport_2031-05.pdf.
- A folder per seafarer, subfolders by document type.
- Expiry dates also in the database, with reminders.
- Old versions in an “Archive” subfolder, not the bin.
Access and backups
- A shared folder on a server or in the cloud — not on a manager's desktop.
- Role-based permissions.
- A daily backup, with one copy outside the office.
- Never send passports and CoCs through personal messengers.
What I do
I choose and set up the scanner, build the folder structure and naming rule, the shared folder with permissions and daily backups, and migrate old scans.
FAQ
Questions and answers
Cloud or an office server?
It depends on team size and budget; often cloud plus an office copy works best.
What about old scans in email?
I move them into the new structure and check nothing is lost.
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