The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has identified suspicious seaman books belonging to two Indian crew members during a ship clearance operation at Port Qasim in Karachi, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Thursday.
According to the FIA spokesperson, the two crew members failed to present mandatory maritime documents, including Certificates of Competency and Certificates of Proficiency, during the inspection process.
Officials said the vessel had arrived at Port Qasim from Indonesia carrying Indian crew members on board.
During the clearance operation, FIA Immigration officials discovered irregularities in the travel and maritime documents of the two Indian nationals.
The FIA spokesperson stated that the men did not possess Indian national Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDC) or standard Indian seaman's books.
Instead, the Indian crew members were using seaman's books issued by Palau, raising suspicion among immigration authorities.
The FIA spokesperson said both individuals failed to provide the required maritime certifications and recommended that each be fined Rs500,000 for the violations.
Authorities added that FIA Immigration at Port Qasim continued to carry out operations against the use of illegal or suspicious travel documents.
The Palau Ship Registry (PISR) formally recognises Certificates of Competency (CoC) issued by the Indonesia Maritime Administration.
This allows Indonesian seafarers to work on Palau-flagged vessels by obtaining a Certificate of Endorsement (CoE) and a continuous discharge certificate (Seaman Book).
Reporter: Khurshid Rehmani