November 27 during the 30th session of IMO Assembly in London RF Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and Greek Republic Transport Minister Panagiotis Kurumplis signed an agreement between the two ministries on mutual recognition of crew members’ diplomas.
The document complies with the amended STCW 1978 I/10 Regulation and the relevant STCW Code requirements.
According to the RF Transport Ministry statement, the agreement will enable Russian seafarers to work on Greek ships, while Greek seafarers will be able to work on Russian vessels, which is important, as Greek ship owners control a large proportion of the global fleet.
The parties also agreed to intensify the work of the Russia-Greece Shipping Commission and update the bilateral Agreement on merchant shipping signed in 2001 in Athens.