Shared documents between shipowner and crewing agency: safe and simple
A typical crew change: CVs, certificates, medicals, visas and contracts travel back and forth by email between the agency, the shipowner, the manager and sometimes the agent in port. After a year nobody knows who has which copy. A shared folder with clear rights is safer for seafarers’ data and faster for everyone.
Problems with email attachments
- Copies of passports and certificates stay in dozens of mailboxes for years.
- It is unclear which version of a document is the latest.
- Large scans don’t arrive or land in spam.
- When a manager leaves a company, their mailbox still holds seafarers’ documents.
A simple structure
- One folder per vessel or per crew change, inside — one folder per seafarer.
- Agreed file names: rank_surname_document_expiry-date.
- The shipowner gets access only to the folders for their vessels.
- Read-only access for those who only need to look.
Access rules
- Access is given to a person’s work account, not to “anyone with the link”.
- Links to outside parties have an expiry date.
- Once a quarter — a review: who still has access and why.
- When someone leaves — access is removed on the same day (this is the step most often forgotten).
- Two-factor protection on all accounts that see seafarers’ documents.
What not to forget
Seafarers’ documents are personal data. The agency should be able to tell a seafarer where their documents are stored and who can see them, and delete them when they are no longer needed. The exact legal requirements depend on the countries involved — check them with a lawyer; the technical side is described above.
How I help
I set up shared storage for the agency and its partners, folder structure, access rights, expiry of external links, backups and two-factor protection, and train the staff. The price depends on the size of the team and is agreed after the check. IT support on contract →