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Ship Sanitation Certificate

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As of 15 June 2008, you need to apply to the GGD [municipal health service] for a Ship Sanitation Certificate. This certificate replaces the deratting certificate, and it has been compulsory to have one on board since 15 June 2007.

An inspection for a Ship Sanitation Certificate will be carried out on the basis of the requirements imposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In the Netherlands, these requirements are set out in the Public Health Act. The Ship Sanitation Certificate has been introduced to prevent infectious diseases from spreading across the world.

There are three types of certificates

A Ship Sanitation Control Exemption Certificate (SSCEC) means that the ship has been inspected and found in order and will be exempted from checks for a period of six months. It may come with improvement points.

A Ship Sanitation Control Certificate (SSCC) means that a ship has been inspected and that defects were observed that have been identified on the certificate. The ship will have to have the defects repaired or resolved in any other way, and will have to have the control points checked again within the imposed period.

An Extension of the Ship Sanitation Control Exemption Certificate (ESSCEC) will be issued by the GGD if the inspection cannot be performed at that time: the old, still valid, certificate will be extended by one month.

Go to the GGD.NL website.

Infectious diseases

In connection with the global Coronavirus (COVID-19), we would like to draw your attention to the following.

Report infectious diseases
If a ship makes an international voyage and wishes to put into port, it is extremely important that there is clarity as to whether there is an infectious disease on board or not. If the captain of the ship suspects that there are one or more patients on board with an infectious disease, he needs to report this to the Nautical Service Centre (tel. +31 596 640477) as soon as possible and to the pilot who comes on board. This is in accordance with Section 50 of the Public Health Act.

The captain of a ship that makes an international voyage, who wishes to put into port, and has knowledge of or a serious suspicion of one or more cases on board that point to a disease of an infectious nature that could pose a serious hazard to public health, makes sure that the shipping traffic services of the port and the pilot who comes on board are informed as soon as possible but prior to arrival.

The Nautical Service Centre will coordinate the next steps in the event of a report.

Telephone number +31(0)596 640477.