Malta has switched its Seaman's Record Book to a digital-only platform, ending the physical document that tracked every seafarer's sea service on the flag's commercial fleet.

The system is live across the Malta Ship Registry now. IDsure, working with local secure-document specialist Galaxy, supplies the platform. Every record book is cryptographically signed by the Maltese administration and anchored on the Concordium blockchain.

That's the commercial hook. A credential that can't be forged, and doesn't need couriering.

How does it work for seafarers?

Applications still run through the Merchant Shipping Directorate's online portal. Once the directorate approves and verifies identity, the record book lands in a personal wallet inside the IDsure mobile app.

Sea-service entries can be submitted digitally. The vessel's master, or another authorised official, authenticates them — no stamps, no signatures in a blue booklet.

The credential works offline. That matters at sea, where connectivity is patchy and port state control doesn't wait for a login.

Who can verify it?

Employers, authorities and port state control officers can check a record book's authenticity by scanning a QR code. Each entry carries the administration's cryptographic signature.

IDsure said this allows the document and subsequent sea-service entries to be independently verified for tampering.

For crewing managers, that cuts a chronic pain point. Verifying a seafarer's service history has long meant chasing physical books across agents and time zones.

Who is eligible?

The digital book covers:

• crew employed, or due to be employed, aboard Malta-registered commercial vessels
• Maltese nationals
• holders of Maltese certificates of competency

What does it signal?

Malta is a major flag state, and registries watch each other closely. Moving a core crew credential to a blockchain-anchored wallet is a bid to make Malta-registered employment paperwork faster to verify and harder to dispute — a selling point in crewing markets where document fraud and administrative delay still cost real money.

The shift also aligns with the wider digitalisation push across flag-state paperwork, from e-certificates to electronic bills of lading. Seafarers gain a single, offline-accessible credential; employers gain instant verification via QR code.

Paper record books are gone for this registry. Expect other administrations to weigh whether verified digital credentials should follow.