A clear working relationship.

1. Agreement and documents

By creating an account, using the portal, submitting a request, or accepting a quote or Service Order, the client agrees to these Terms and the policies linked in the Legal Centre. A Service Order states the particular scope, deliverables, fee, currency, expected dependencies, and contracting provider. If documents conflict, the Service Order controls the commercial scope; the Privacy Notice controls platform-data explanations; and mandatory law always controls where it cannot be varied.

2. Eligibility and authority

A self-service account holder must be at least 18 and legally able to enter the agreement. A person acting for a seafarer, student, company, or dependent warrants that they have authority to do so and must provide evidence on request. Accounts are personal and may not be transferred or shared.

3. Independent consultancy—not an authority

MSA is not authorised merely by these Terms to issue, renew, endorse, recognise, validate, replace, or revoke a passport, visa, certificate, licence, discharge book, medical certificate, academic award, certificate of competency, employment agreement, or sea-service record. Only the relevant competent authority or recognised issuer can do so. An MSA review, checklist, readiness score, status, or label is an internal workflow opinion and not official certification.

4. No legal, immigration, medical, or financial advice

MSA provides practical maritime-process guidance based on experience and available information. Unless a Service Order expressly names a properly licensed professional, the service is not legal representation, immigration advice, medical advice, tax advice, investment advice, or a formal competence assessment. Clients should obtain specialist advice where a decision depends on local law, health, immigration status, taxation, or safety-critical competence.

5. Scope of service

MSA may assess an objective, provide a checklist, organise records, check apparent completeness, prepare forms from client-supplied information, coordinate appointments, communicate with a selected third party under authority, track a case, and provide status updates. Work outside an accepted Service Order requires a new written scope. MSA may correct clerical work but is not responsible for an undisclosed fact, an inaccurate client record, or a changed third-party requirement.

6. Professional network and lawful expedition

MSA may use professional relationships and established communication channels to identify the correct process, obtain prompt responses, secure lawful appointments, and reduce avoidable delay. MSA does not sell influence or preferential treatment. It will not offer or accept a bribe, kickback, secret commission, facilitation payment, forged endorsement, or unofficial payment. Any expedited route must be an official or otherwise lawful route, and known official charges should be identified with supporting evidence where available.

7. Third-party control and no guarantee

Authorities, schools, training providers, medical providers, employers, shipowners, recruiters, embassies, accommodation providers, transport providers, and banks act independently. They control their criteria, queues, prices, availability, security checks, and decisions. MSA does not guarantee certification, recognition, admission, examination success, employment, sea time, a visa, travel, accommodation, funding, eligibility, approval, or completion by a particular date.

8. Client responsibilities

• Provide complete, accurate, current, legible, and lawfully obtained information.
• Review forms and submissions before approval and disclose errors or material changes immediately.
• Meet deadlines, attend appointments, complete training or examinations, and follow official instructions.
• Maintain valid originals and independently confirm critical requirements with the competent issuer.
• Use only the secure portal for sensitive files and keep account credentials confidential.
• Pay agreed agency fees and properly disclosed third-party costs when due.
• Never request an unlawful shortcut, unofficial payment, false record, or misleading representation.

9. Documents and client warranties

The client warrants that submitted documents are authentic to the best of their knowledge, have not been materially altered, and may lawfully be processed for the instructed purpose. MSA may request originals, issuer verification, certified copies, translations, or additional evidence, and may suspend work where authenticity or authority is uncertain. MSA will not retain an original physical passport or certificate unless a separately signed custody record and lawful procedure apply.

10. Authority to communicate

Portal upload authorisation permits internal storage and review only. A client must separately authorise external communication or sharing for a specified case. That authority is limited to the stated purpose, may be withdrawn before an irreversible submission, and is not a general power of attorney. A recipient may require its own mandate or signature.

11. Fees and third-party costs

MSA will state its consultancy fee, currency, payment milestones, and known third-party costs before paid work begins. Third-party fees are not MSA revenue and may change without MSA's control. MSA will distinguish, where practicable, agency fees, official charges, and optional provider costs. No fee is payable for seafarer recruitment or placement where applicable maritime labour law prohibits charging it to the seafarer. Recruitment safeguards are set out in the Recruitment and Opportunity Policy.

12. Cancellations and refunds

The Cancellation and Refund Policy applies. In summary, a client may cancel before work begins for a refund of uncommitted agency fees, subject to any mandatory cooling-off right. After work begins, MSA may retain the reasonable amount for work properly performed and non-recoverable third-party costs that the client authorised. A blanket no-refund term does not apply where mandatory consumer law, non-performance, or an MSA breach requires another result.

13. Recruitment and opportunities

Unless a Service Order expressly states otherwise and the required local authorisation is in place, MSA provides candidate readiness, information, and introduction support—not regulated recruitment or placement. An opportunity listing or matching status is not an employment offer. The employer or shipowner controls selection and the seafarer must receive, review, and retain the applicable employment agreement. MSA may pause recruitment-related activity pending a competent-authority determination or licence.

14. Portal and community use

Clients must follow the Acceptable Use Policy. MSA may moderate, restrict, preserve, or remove content and suspend an account to protect users, evidence, or the service. Community content is provided by users and is not automatically verified or endorsed. Clients must not post sensitive records, job scams, discriminatory content, confidential vessel information, or safety-compromising material.

15. Confidentiality and privacy

MSA will use reasonable confidentiality and security controls and process personal information under the Privacy Notice. Confidentiality does not prevent a disclosure authorised by the client, required by law, necessary for professional advice under confidentiality, or reasonably necessary to address fraud, abuse, or an immediate safety risk.

16. Intellectual property

The client retains rights in their records. MSA retains rights in its platform, branding, templates, checklists, workflow methods, and original materials. The client receives a personal, non-transferable right to use paid deliverables for the agreed purpose. Official forms and third-party material remain subject to their owners' rights.

17. Suspension and termination

Either party may end an ongoing service as stated in the Service Order. MSA may immediately suspend or terminate for non-payment, threats, account compromise, sanctions risk, forged or unlawfully obtained documents, bribery requests, misuse of personal data, illegality, or a material breach. MSA will preserve records where reasonably required for a complaint, legal duty, or defence of claims.

18. Standard of care and correction

MSA will perform accepted services with reasonable care and skill. The client must notify MSA promptly of an alleged error and allow a reasonable opportunity to investigate and, where appropriate, correct or repeat the affected consultancy work. This does not reduce any remedy that mandatory law provides.

19. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, MSA is responsible only for direct loss that was reasonably foreseeable and caused by MSA's failure to use reasonable care and skill. MSA is not responsible for a third party's independent decision, changed rule, system outage, delay, refusal, insolvency, unsafe conduct, or the client's inaccurate or late information. Where law permits a monetary cap, MSA's aggregate liability arising from a particular Service Order is limited to the agency fees paid under that Service Order. Nothing excludes or limits liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, wilful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by negligence, unlawful data processing, or any liability or consumer remedy that law does not permit the parties to exclude or limit.

20. Client responsibility for unlawful material

To the extent permitted by law, a client is responsible for loss caused by their knowing submission of forged, stolen, unauthorised, or materially misleading information, or by their unlawful use of the platform. This clause does not make a consumer responsible for MSA's own breach or remove a defence available under law.

21. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for delay caused by events beyond reasonable control, including authority closure, strike, war, epidemic, disaster, transport disruption, widespread telecommunications failure, or third-party platform outage. The affected party must take reasonable steps to reduce the impact. Payment remains due for properly completed work and authorised non-recoverable costs.

22. Complaints and disputes

A client should first use the Complaints Policy so the issue can be logged and reviewed. The parties will attempt good-faith resolution before court or an available alternative-dispute process. Governing law, forum, and any mandatory consumer jurisdiction must be stated in the Service Order once MSA's responsible operator and operating jurisdiction are confirmed. Until then, these Terms do not attempt to remove any mandatory right or forum available under applicable law.

23. General terms

If a provision is unenforceable, it is limited or removed only to the extent required and the remainder continues. A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver. No third party receives a contractual right unless a Service Order expressly says so. MSA may update these Terms prospectively; a material change affecting active paid work requires notice and does not rewrite a completed transaction without agreement.