Powered by artificial intelligence, Crewlinker’s web application aims to make it easy for crewing agencies, shipping companies and other maritime industry employers to find people with the necessary competences, in seconds. Seafarers can enter all their certificates and working experience to automatically create an in-depth resumé that helps them find jobs to fit their experience.
Taking the hassle out of the prccess
Deckhands, engineers, navigators, technicians and officers need to go through application processes with every new job. Regulations demand specific competences and certificates for tasks on board. Before a seafarer or offshore technician can start a new job, many certificates need to be verified by the employer.
The Rotterdam-based, globally operating digital tech company Crewlinker aims to take the hassle out of this process.
The new company said crew can upload all their certificates easily, and employers can search for the crew they need with all the required competences visible on the platform. The intelligent application provides matching profiles within seconds.
Crewlinker said its platform also helps when seafarers are not fully proficient in formal English, even while they are competent and certified for specific jobs. And the web application overcomes the fact that not all searfarers may own a laptop or computer but use a smartphone instead.
Facilitating the verification process
According to founder and CEO Adam van der Veer, Crewlinker addresses some of the problems and complexities of maritime recruitment.
'Employers need to verify that the crew they want to hire [have] all the required certificates. After a first contact with a candidate has been established, a large number of emails are exchanged between the crewing agency and the candidate, with all of the stakeholders that need to stay informed about the application receiving copies, too.
'This makes the process very sluggish and increases the risk of missing required certificates,' he said. 'We provide a platform where seafarers can easily gather and hold all their documentation. Therefore it is really easy for employers to verify if candidates have all the required certificates and documents. This is to the benefit of both the recruiters as well as the seafarers and offshore technicians.'
AI
Crewlinker uses AI to find matches with search queries from employers. Understanding the different types of certificates worldwide and remembering the type of crew that an employer is looking for, the software improves on selecting the best matches, according to the company.
Additionally, Crewlinker is developing an extra AI functionality that can recognize and interpret photos from paper certificates in all the different languages and as they are issued by institutes around the world. This helps recruiters to automatically validate if a certificate fits their requirements. The AI functionality recognizes the type of certificate, the date of issue and expiry date.
Free for seafarers
For seafarers, making their profile page on Crewlinker is free. Crewing agencies, offshore operators, construction companies, dredging companies and shipowners can subscribe to search the database for competent crew and to post their vacancies.
Van der Veer said: 'When creating a profile on Crewlinker, the level of completeness is shown; the applicant can continue to add relevant information over time, providing employers with an instant overview of the needed requirements. The set-up of the platform is rooted in our wish to make the global maritime labour market much more efficient and our belief that all maritime crew should have an equal chance.'
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