Register on the Pool List to be entitled to social security for seafarers. Registration is compulsory for seafarers and shore-goers who wish to be employed in merchant shipping under the Belgian system.
As a marine student you can be hired on a sea ship during the summer holidays to train for life at sea. To do so, you must fulfil a number of conditions.
As a shipowner, you have legal obligations when it comes to training voyages.
Have you unintentionally become unemployed without pay? If you are registered on the Pool List and fall under the social security regime for seafarers, you are entitled to a tideover allowance.
As long as you are registered on the Pool List, you are insured against illness and disability under the regime for seafarers. In certain situations, there is also continued insurance.
All information can be found on the Seafarer web page of the HZIV/CAAMI (in French).
You can request the supplementary amount for voyages in times of war on the Seafarer web page of the HZIV/CAAMI (in French).
In Belgium, persons employed as crew aboard sea ships are subject to the special social security regime for seafarers in merchant shipping. The regime does not apply to sea fisheries or crews of sea ships of the federal and regional authorities.