INDoS Number: Complete Guide for Indian Seafarers (2026)

What Is an INDoS Number?

INDoS stands for Indian National Database of Seafarers — a centralised electronic registry maintained by the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), Government of India, first implemented under Merchant Shipping Notice No. 2 of 2001. It stores verified identity details for every registered Indian seafarer — name, passport, photograph, signature, qualifications, and training history — and issues each person a unique eight-character alphanumeric INDoS number. This number stays the same for life, even if the seafarer’s rank or category changes, and appears on virtually every subsequent maritime document and certificate they hold.

The purpose is straightforward: preventing fraudulent or forged certificates by giving shipping companies, port authorities, immigration officials, and flag states a single, centralised, tamper-resistant way to verify a seafarer’s genuine credentials.

Why the INDoS Number Matters

• Mandatory for admission to any DG Shipping-approved training course, including Basic STCW modules and every pre-sea program (GP Rating, DNS, BTech Marine Engineering, ETO, and others)
• Prerequisite for a CDC — you cannot apply for a Continuous Discharge Certificate without an INDoS number already in place
• Used for employer verification — shipping companies check a candidate’s INDoS profile before recruitment to confirm genuine training history
• Reduces the need to carry original documents — since verified data sits in the centralised database, seafarers don’t need to carry every original certificate with them at all times, particularly useful when working overseas
• Speeds up statutory checks — port state control, flag state, and immigration authorities can verify credentials quickly through the centralised system rather than manual document checks

How to Get an INDoS Number

Here’s the detail most guides skip: you cannot apply for an INDoS number on your own. It can only be obtained through a DG Shipping-approved Maritime Training Institute (MTI) — meaning your first STCW course or pre-sea training institute is the one that actually initiates the INDoS application on your behalf.

Step-by-step process:

1. Enrol at a DG Shipping-approved MTI for your first course (typically a Basic STCW module or your pre-sea training program)
2. Submit required documents to the institute — valid passport, 10th standard mark sheet/passing certificate, and a passport-size photograph with white background
3. Institute registration — the MTI registers your admission details on the DGS e-Governance platform; upon successful submission, you receive a system-generated reference number via your registered email
4. In-person verification — you present yourself physically at the MTI with the reference number and required original documents for verification
5. MTI submits the request — the institute verifies all details and formally requests DG Shipping to generate your INDoS number
6. Fee payment — the applicable INDoS generation fee is paid, typically to the Maritime Training Trust (MTT), the body that administers INDoS fee collection
7. Receive your INDoS number — DG Shipping generates and emails the number to your registered email ID once processing is complete

INDoS Number Fees

The commonly cited fee structure for INDoS number generation is:

• Indian nationals: ₹1,200 + 18% GST (9% SGST + 9% CGST) = ₹1,416 total
• Foreign nationals: ₹3,000 + 18% GST = ₹3,540 total

This fee is paid through the Maritime Training Trust’s designated INDoS account, and institute registration itself (before INDoS generation) is generally free — the fee applies specifically to the INDoS number generation step.

Important: Non-Attendance and Fee Forfeiture

A detail worth knowing before you commit to a course purely to obtain your INDoS number: if you register and pay the fee but fail to attend the course, the MTI is required to notify the Maritime Training Trust of your non-attendance, which triggers a cancellation request for your INDoS number — and the fees already paid are forfeited and non-refundable. In practice, this means the INDoS application should be treated as tied to genuine course commitment, not something to initiate speculatively.

Updating Your INDoS Profile Details

Not all information in your INDoS/Seafarer’s Profile is equally easy to change:

• Self-updatable without institute involvement: present address, mobile number, and email ID
• Requires formal correction request: permanent address, First Name, and Surname — these must be updated through the “Request for Personal Details Correction” option within the Seafarer Profile after logging into the DGS portal

If you ever find a discrepancy between your INDoS data and your actual documents, it’s worth correcting promptly, since mismatches can cause delays later at CDC application or CoC exam stages.

What If You Have Duplicate INDoS Numbers?

Occasionally a seafarer ends up with two INDoS numbers due to a data or registration error. To resolve this, the seafarer should email the MTT INDoS Cell (ttc-dgs@nic.in) from their registered email address, confirming which of the two numbers they wish to retain, along with the required supporting document copies attached.

INDoS Number vs. CDC: The Relationship Between the Two

These two are often confused but serve different roles. The INDoS number is your lifetime identity registration ID, generated once and unchanged regardless of category shifts. The CDC is the physical booklet document that records your actual sea service, contracts, and discharge/engagement history over time — and you cannot apply for a CDC without already holding a valid INDoS number. Think of INDoS as the foundational identity layer, and CDC as the service-record document built on top of it.

Why the MTI-Only Application Route Exists

It’s a fair question why an aspiring seafarer can’t simply apply for their own INDoS number directly through the DGS portal, the way one might apply for a PAN card or passport independently. The design is deliberate: routing INDoS generation exclusively through approved MTIs creates a built-in verification checkpoint, since the institute is directly accountable for confirming a candidate’s documents and identity in person before DG Shipping issues the number. This structure is part of the same fraud-prevention logic behind INDoS itself — a self-service application process would reintroduce exactly the kind of unverified, potentially forged registration the system was built to eliminate. For applicants, the practical takeaway is simply to choose a genuinely DG Shipping-approved institute for your first course, since that choice determines who initiates your INDoS application on your behalf.