Boost For Indian Maritime Sector: India First In The World To Launch Facial Bio-Metric Data Based Identity Document

In a move that will help boost job prospects for Indian seafarers, India has become the first country in the world to issue Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID), \\capturing the facial bio-metric data of the workers.

The Indian maritime sector is expanding with the total number of Indian seafarers who were employed on Indian or foreign flag vessels increasing from 1,54,349 in 2017 to 2,08,799 in 2019.

The BSIDs will further facilitate Indian sailors’ movement while protecting their identity and privacy, helping grow their job prospects in India and abroad.

The BSIDs have a biometric chip embedded in it. At the time of data capturing the live face is cross matched through a passport photo using a face matching software. Another software has been developed for capturing the facial biometrics and its authentication through the public key infrastructure. The card has two optical security features- Micro prints/micro texts and Unique Guilloche pattern.

A record of each SID issued will be maintained in a national database and its related information will be internationally accessible.

Nine data collection centers have been setup  at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Noida, Goa, New Mangalore, Kochi, Vizag and Kandla for issue of BSID.  Every Indian seafarer who possesses a valid Continuous Discharge Certificate issued by the central government will be eligible for issue of a BSID.