Registry coverage / Ukraine
Verify a Ukraine seafarer certificate (Certificate of Competency)
Last updated:
By the Docka team · Reviewed 7 September 2026
To verify a Ukrainian STCW certificate, check it against the state register of the Maritime Administration of Ukraine. Docka runs that check live and automatically: it queries the authority's official check-document service and reports what it returns.
Ukraine is worth reading carefully, because two very different Ukrainian services exist and they do not mean the same thing. This page is about the state register, the flag-state authority. It is not the Odessa training-centre validator (see the note below).
Authority: Морська адміністрація, Maritime Administration of Ukraine (State Service of Maritime and Inland Waterway Transport). Official verification portal: official verification portal (vrf.marad.gov.ua). The portal is in Ukrainian and has an English switcher at the top of the page.
What Docka can confirm
- Live automatic verification against the state register. Docka submits the document details to the authority's own service and returns the result, stamped with the time of the query.
- A government-verified result (level L3) is reachable for the Ukrainian state register, because the check goes to the flag-state authority.
- What it cannot confirm: a document the quick search does not index. For older issues the answer is inconclusive, and Docka says so instead of reporting a failure.
Every result carries one of Docka's four trust levels, L0 to L3, which say how far the check reached. The full table is in how seafarer certificate verification actually works.
The coverage caveat you must know
The state registry's quick search reliably covers documents issued 2023 and later, for older documents a "not found" answer is inconclusive, not a verdict.
A not-found answer on an older document does not mean the certificate is fake or invalid; it may simply predate the searchable index. Docka records such a result as inconclusive and never as a failure.
Do it yourself on the official portal
The Ukrainian service matches on three things printed on the document. The labels below are Docka's; the fields are the portal's.
- Open the official portal at vrf.marad.gov.ua. If you do not read Ukrainian, switch the interface to English first.
- Choose the Document type from the portal's list (a certificate of competency is a "Диплом") and enter the Document number (as printed).
- Enter the Date of issue using the day, month and year selectors, submit, and read the answer as the status of the document.
Not found?
For a document issued before 2023, a not-found answer is inconclusive: the quick search may not index it. Docka marks the result inconclusive, and you can request a manual verification, which a person follows up with the administration. We do not quote a turnaround time for that request; it depends on the administration.
Two Ukrainian services: don't confuse them
There is also a training-centre validator run by the Training Centre for Certification of Seafarers (IPE), Odessa Maritime Academy, at official portal (tccs.online). Docka can query it too, but it is not the flag state. A result from the training centre confirms that a document exists in that training centre's records: a registry-confirmed document (L2), never a government or flag-state validity verdict. Only the state register above can reach L3. Docka keeps the two clearly separate and labels each result for what it is.
The training-centre validator keys its lookup on the Surname (as on certificate) and the Certificate number, so a certificate of proficiency issued by the centre can be checked there even when the state register's quick search does not index it.
Frequently asked questions
- Which authority does Docka check against for Ukraine?
- For a flag-state check, the state register of the Maritime Administration of Ukraine. Docka also supports the separate Odessa training-centre validator, but that is not a flag-state verification.
- Is this a live check or a manual one?
- Live and automatic. Docka queries the authority's own check-document service and returns the result.
- Why did an older certificate come back not found?
- The state register's quick search reliably covers documents issued 2023 and later. A not-found result on an older document is inconclusive, not proof that anything is wrong. You can ask Docka for a manual verification, which a person follows up with the administration.
- What do I need to run a check?
- Three things printed on the document: the Document number (as printed), the Date of issue, the Document type.
- Is the Odessa training-centre result the same as a government check?
- No. That validator confirms the document exists in the training centre's records, an L2 registry-confirmed result. Only the state register can reach L3, Government-verified.
- Is Docka part of the Ukrainian government?
- No. Docka is independent software built by Docka Development OÜ (Tallinn, Estonia). It queries the official Ukrainian services on your behalf.