Starting January 2026, a new updated PSSR course will be introduced, and we will need to take it. We are still waiting for DG Shipping-approved institutes to create the new course. It might be a full PSSR course or just a refresher. Until January 2026, this blog post remains valid.

Few companies have recently started asking for PSSR course certificates issued within the last five years, which has created a lot of confusion among seafarers. In this post, I aim to clarify what DG Shipping India actually says about the PSSR course and whether it needs to be renewed every five years. Since I hold a UK Certificate of Competency, I will also touch upon what other flag states mention about PSSR refresher requirements, as many of us sail under different flags with multinational crews.

I came across this issue myself today, and while checking DG Shipping’s guidelines, I realized there isn’t a clear statement on this matter. It took going through multiple circulars to find a definite answer. That’s why I decided to write this article — to help other seafarers understand the situation more clearly and avoid unnecessary confusion about the PSSR course.

If you’re short on time, here’s the quick answer — the PSSR course does not need to be repeated every five years. Refresher courses are only required for PST and FPFF.

What DG Shipping Says About the PSSR Course

With reference to DG Shipping India circular “STCW 2010 Training Circular No. 13 of 2012”  (“https://www.dgshipping.gov.in/Content/viewNotice.aspx?noticeid=994”) published on Date 07.02.2012.

Your PSSR must be in accordance to Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities (PSSR) course to include revised and additional competencies as per “Section A-VI/1-4 STCW 2010”.

Here is a screenshot of circular “STCW 2010 Training Circular No. 13 of 2012”

So if you have completed your PSSR course after 15th Dec 2011, means your PSSR certificate meets the requirements of this circular and is valid.

If you have done your PSSR course before 15th Dec 2011, you will have to do the course again to meet the STCW 2010 requirements.

Now that we’ve cleared up one doubt about the PSSR certificate, let’s move on to some other common questions below.

Clarifying If the PSSR Course Requires Renewal Every 5 Years or Has Lifetime Validity

Now the question came where its written that we dont need to do the PSSR course every 5 years or its valid for lifetime.

If you check out the “DGS Order No.40 of 2020” (Link), you’ll see that the PSSR certificate has “UN-LIMITED” validity. This circular came out in 2020, but there haven’t been any new rules or changes to the PSSR course under STCW since then. So, your PSSR certificate is still valid, and you don’t have to redo the course every five years.

I believe these two circulars are enough to explain to any company or third party that, according to DG Shipping India, seafarers don’t need to retake the PSSR course every five years. However, seafarers from other countries may still have to redo the course if their own maritime authorities have different rules for their nationals.

Since I hold a UK COC, the rules according to UK MCA apply to me. The UK accepts Basic STCW certificates issued by DG Shipping, which means we don’t need to redo the PSSR course every five years. However, if DG Shipping changes the rule to require the PSSR course every five years, then we will need to retake it to keep our UK COC documents valid.