Pakistani seafarers would be issued Machine Readable Seafarer Identity Document to get easy entry and exits to and from the ports of different countries participating ILO convention C185, official source said on Sunday.
The government shipping office (GSO), Ministry of Ports and Shipping, has sought help of National Database and Registration Authority's assistance for the issuance of Machine Readable Seafarer Identity Document (MRSID).
A highly secure and authentic issue procedure would enable its acceptance by the International Community and the decision-makers of each country vis-a-vis their policies of granting permission to go ashore for joining the ships and leave after the agreed period of service of Seafarers.
Seafarers work and lives on ships involve international trade and access to shore facilities. Shore leave is vital element of seafarers' general wellbeing and, therefore, the achievement of such a document would be a milestone, the sources added.
The resolutions regarding Seafarers access to the ship for joining and exit purposes were signed by the members in ILO convention 0185, Pakistan being the signatory of the convention agreed to develop and commission new system as per criteria set by ILO convention C185.
International Shipping and Immigration Authorities would be looking at a tamper proof security document complying with ILO standards. The issuance of MRSID would open new opportunities for Pakistan to eligible Pakistani Seafarers to work on international ships and other ports, the sources added.
Unlike the previous version of identification documents such as CDC and SSB, the MRSID has been designed as per the specifications provided by lCAD for Machine-readable Travel Document (MRTD) and is being issued with two machine-readable features, that is, fingerprint data encoded into the 2D barcode and MRZ as per standard specified by ILO C-185.
A one-window operation at the Nadra Swift Center has been evolved in this regard with Data Acquisitions Processing, Production and Issuance of MRSID Cards under one-roof, while identity of Seafarers would be verified by Nadra's Verisys System.