Nautilus International has criticised the UK government's failure to provide adequate assurances over the future recognition of British seafarers' certificates in Europe post-Brexit.

The Union, which represents more than 22,000 maritime professionals, says the technical notice on seafarer qualifications issued by the government dodges important questions about the long-term arrangements for mutual recognition and reveals that the UK is unprepared for a 'no deal' Brexit.

Failure to resolve the potential threat to the employability of UK seafarers could put thousands of jobs at risk, the Union says. European Maritime Safety Agency statistics show that the UK issued more certificates of competency (CoCs) to masters and officers than any other EU member state in 2016 (24,375) – almost 10% of the total number of masters and officers eligible to serve on EU-flagged ships. A total of 3,410 seafarers held valid endorsements issued by an EU member state where the original was issued in the UK.