Hoi! Hope you can help. I’m already working on a ship, for silversea, and I have a Bahamas seamans book, but we are going to the Baltic for like 2 months and have plenty of overnights in St. Petersburg, but I’m not allowed to go out there, because my seamans book is not from my country. Is it possible to apply for and get a South African seamans book while I am on board? Where can I find out about that? Thanks!
I guess if you really get desperate you can always go to your national maritime authority (SAMSA) and ask them.
The problem is I'm already on board, so I cant really go anywhere... Is it possible to apply over the internet?
Hi, Google can be a great tool and is often quicker than waiting for a reply to a pretty easy to answer question. Here are a number of contact details for SAMSA Offices all over SA. http://www.samsa.org.za/content_main.asp?menuId=13 Get on the phone or send some e mails to them to see what the situation is, I am sure you are not the first one from SA to find yourself in this situation. You could always look at the plus points of being stuck onboard. You will not go ashore and waste your money on junk.