What you need to perform it
Primary qualification
- Regulated administrative training: Higher Technician in Administration and Finance (Spanish vocational diploma, Royal Decree 1584/2011) or a degree in Labour Relations/HR/Tourism, or international equivalent (as a guide — the position has no maritime certificate of its own).
- Working knowledge of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006): seafarer employment agreements (SEA), rest hours and repatriation.
Basic STCW
- STCW Basic Safety Training (A-VI/1) to sign on.
- Crowd Management (A-V/2) according to muster list duties (Regulation V/2).
- Maritime security awareness (A-VI/6-1).
Specific courses
- Crew visa management: US C1/D seafarer visa, Schengen and the transit regimes of the itinerary's ports (as a guide).
- Clearance documentation: crew lists and IMO FAL Convention forms (facilitation of maritime traffic).
- The cruise line's crew management systems (e.g. Adonis or OCS-type systems — as a guide, company-specific).
- Applied MLC 2006: rest-hour control and onboard employment documentation.
Indicative experience
As a guide: 1-3 years in crewing/manning agencies, hotel HR or international personnel administration before the first contract; on board, the full rotation cycle is learned within 1-2 contracts.
Observations
Typical route: Crew Coordinator → Crew Purser → onboard HR Manager (own card in this explorer) → shoreside fleet crewing. An expired visa or a wrong crew list can mean immigration fines, the crew member being held or a delay in the ship's clearance (as a guide, jurisdiction-dependent). The role handles sensitive personal data: confidentiality and data protection are part of the job. Crew-change days in the home port are the most critical of the cycle.
What this role does
With crew from dozens of nationalities, every crew change involves visas, flights, permits and exact timing to avoid leaving a position uncovered. It is a precision administrative role: working against certificate expiry dates, immigration windows and port-call schedules that wait for no one. A good coordinator is invisible; a bad one becomes obvious the day a critical crew member is left ashore.
Typical watches
- Administrative shift with peaks on crew change days
Key responsibilities
- Manage crew passports, seaman's books, STCW certificates and medical certificates.
- Coordinate flights, transfers and crew-change logistics with the port agent and immigration.
- Maintain the expiry matrix (STCW certificates, medicals, visas) and flag every expiry well in advance.
- Prepare crew lists and arrival/departure declarations for the authorities at each port call.
Operational scope
- Crew office, gangway on embark/debark days
- Coordination with port agents, consulates and immigration authorities
Profile reviewed by HydroAbyss (2026). Cited rules and timeframes are indicative: the final requirement is set by the flag State, the Administration and each company.