Guidance

MSN 1815 (M+F) Amendment 7 countries whose seafarer medical certificates have been assessed as meeting international requirements and are acceptable for use on UK ships

Published 13 August 2026

Summary

This notice lists the countries whose seafarer medical fitness certificates have been assessed as meeting international requirements and are acceptable for use on UK ships.

Amendment 7:

• updates annex 1 to add Switzerland, move Bermuda to the ‘rest of the world’ list and refer to European Economic Area instead of state
• updates notes 1 and 2 about approved doctors for the seafarer medical certificates of Bermuda and Malta
• updates the title to MSN 1815 (M+F) to reflect that this notice is applicable to both seafarers and fishermen
• updates contact details and formatting

1. Introduction

1.1 The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/737) (the “MLC regulations”) and the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations 2018 (“the WIFC regulations”) make it a legal requirement for seafarers to hold a valid certificate attesting to their medical fitness for the work for which they are employed.

1.2 The requirement for a seafarer medical fitness certificate, known as ENG 1, does not apply to anyone employed on non-commercial pleasure vessels or offshore installations whilst on their working stations. The medical certification regulations also do not apply to merchant vessels operating solely in inland waterways (waters of categories A, B, C or D) although the master of an inland waterway vessel will need to demonstrate medical fitness in order to obtain their master’s qualification. (The fishing regulations apply to all fishing vessels, defined as catching sea fish commercially).

2. Acceptable medical fitness certificates

2.1 The following certificates are acceptable for those working on United Kingdom vessels:

• a UK seafarer medical fitness certificate, an ENG 1, issued in accordance with the provisions of the MLC regulations or the WIFC regulations, by an MCA approved doctor listed on GOV.UK
• a valid national seafarer medical certificate issued in accordance with requirements of the maritime authority of any country listed in annex 1 of this notice. The certificate is one which normally is issued to a national of that country, by a doctor approved by the maritime authority of that country, wherever they may be located. It does not entitle these doctors to issue the UK ENG 1 medical fitness certificate

2.2 In order to obtain a certificate from one of the countries listed in annex 1, the maritime authority of the respective country should be contacted, to direct the seafarer to a doctor authorised by their authority to conduct seafarer medical examinations.

2.3 As a standard for working on a UK vessel, it is expected that the medical certificate has an English translation, in order for the master of the vessel and/or any surveyor/inspector who may wish to check the medical certificate to identify any restrictions to the duties for the voyage for which they are embarked.

2.4 Further countries may be added to the list when their standards have been assessed for equivalency.

3. More information

Medical Administration Team, Seafarer Safety and Health Branch
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Bay 2/07
Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG

Telephone: +44 (0)203 81 72835

Email: medical@mcga.gov.uk

General enquiries: infoline@mcga.gov.uk 

Website: www.gov.uk/mca

Please note that all addresses and telephone numbers are correct at time of publishing.

Annex 1 – countries whose seafarer medical certificates have been assessed as meeting international requirements and are acceptable for use on UK ships 

The following are the countries whose national seafarer medical certificates have been assessed as meeting international requirements and are acceptable for use on UK ships instead of an ENG 1 seafarer medical fitness certificate. This does not authorise doctors from these countries to issue ENG 1 seafarer medical fitness certificates. 

European Union and European Economic Area	Rest of the world
Belgium	Australia
Bulgaria	Bermuda (note 1)
Croatia	Canada
Cyprus	China
Czech Republic	Ghana
Denmark	Hong Kong
Estonia	India
Finland	Jamaica
France	Mauritius
Germany	New Zealand
Greece	Pakistan
Hungary	South Africa
Iceland	Sri Lanka
Ireland	Switzerland
Italy	Ukraine
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta (note 2)
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden

Please note that the administrations of Austria and Luxembourg do not appear in the list of EU countries, as they have informed the MCA that they do not have seafarer medical examination systems.  

Notes:  

1. The Bermudan seafarer medical certificate is only acceptable if it has been issued by a doctor nominated by Carnival Corporation & PLC. Medical certificates issued by these doctors are valid until expiry/unless otherwise invalidated even if the seafarer is employed on a ship for another company.

2. The maritime authority of Malta has confirmed that the list of duly qualified medical practitioners available in Malta for seafarer medical certificates is the list officially issued by the Malta Medical Council, which is the official authority responsible for issuing licences to medical practitioners in Malta’s territory. Please contact Transport Malta for the most up to date copy of this list. Please note that a Maltese seafarer medical certificate will only be accepted as equivalent to the UK ENG 1 medical certificate if it was completed by a qualified medical practitioner licenced by the Malta Medical Council and if the seafarer medical examination was conducted in Malta’s territory. No Maltese seafarer medical certificates issued outside Malta’s territory will be accepted.