Repatriation Of A Deceased Seaman: Local Regulation And Documentary Problems
Many
incidents
affecting
seafarers
occur
during
marine
service.
Unfortunately
some
of
them
are
fatal
accidents
caused
due
to
various
reasons:
tropical
climate,
accidents,
marine
perils,
illness
or
other
diseases,
etc.
Therefore
we
are
facing
problems
when
repatriating
the
deceased
seamen
quite
often.
Repatriation
of
the
deceased
seaman
should
be
undertaken
only
if
the
appropriate
set
of
accompanying
documents
has
been
duly
provided
in
accordance
with
Ukrainian
requirements.
As
per
Ukrainian
regulations
in
case
of
repatriation
of
deceased
seaman
the
body
should
be
accompanied
by
the
following
documents:
•
Death
Certificate.
This
certificate
should
be
duly
apostilized
by
the
authorities
of
the
country
where
seaman
died
as
per
The
Hague
Convention
“On
apostilization”
1969
or
legalized
if
death
tool
place
in
the
country
which
is
not
a
member
of
above-
mentioned
Convention.
The
procedure
of
legalization
which
certainly
was
much
more
complicated.
After
apostilization
the
Death
certificate
will
be
valid
in
Ukraine
and
Ukrainian
Civil
Register
issue
to
the
family
of
deceased
the
permission
for
burial of the body.
• Sanitary Certificate.
• Quarantine Certificate regarding absence of quarantinable disease and infections.
• Embalming Certificate.
• In some cases Police Report/Certificate also required.
•
Coffin
should
have
the
Certificate
on
Absence
of
Extraneous
Items
inside.
Coffin
should
be
certified
as
a
rule
in
the
presence
of
the
Ukrainian
Consular
representative
who
issues
such
certificate
or
alternatively
such
certificate
should
be
issued
by
the
customs
authorities
wherefrom
the
coffin should be repatriated
• List of personal belongings and documents accompanying the body.
This
list
should
be
prepared
properly
and
include
all
personal
effects
of
the
deceased,
cash,
valuables,
etc.
and
certified
by
the
ship’s
administration
(master,
chief
officer)
or
ship’s
agent.
Such
list
should
be
dispatched
as
per
separate
Airway
Bill
which
should
be
submitted
to
the
customs
authorities
upon
arrival.
•
•
Airway
bill
indicating
the
person
who
should
obtain
the
body.
In
accordance
with
local
regulations
authorities
give
over
the
coffin
only
to
the
person
indicated
in
the
airway
bill
as
a
receiver.
All
the
mentioned
documents
should
be
attached
to
the
airway
bill
as
one
package.
All
the
listed
documents
should
be
send
to
local
P&I
Correspondents
prior
to
shipment
of
the
body
for
checking
all
relevant
papers
in
advance
in
order
to
prevent
any
infringements
of
local
requirements
and
make
all
preliminary
arrangements
with
authorities
with
regard
to
repatriation
of
the
body.
We
faced
situations
when
process
of
repatriation
of
the
body
took
plenty
of
time
sometimes
about
couple
of
months.
Thus,
non-performance
of
the
above-mentioned
requirements
or
negligence
in
preparation
the
necessary
documents’
accompanying
the
body
automatically
entails
increasing considerable costs for the Shipowners and create the additional stress for the family of deceased.
