Each certificate category can carry a list of certificates the vessel is required to hold. Anything on that list with no matching certificate uploaded in that category is reported as missing, which is how the register tells "we have not uploaded it yet" apart from "we do not need it".
Managing the categories
Open Vessel Settings with the gear button and go to the Vessel Documents tab. The left column groups the vessel's categories under their headings — certificate categories sit under Certificates, and only the categories you may view are listed. With edit rights on vessel settings you can:
- add a category with the + next to the Certificates heading (names up to 42 characters);
- rename one with the pencil;
- drag categories into the order you want them listed in the sidebar. Dragging a category under another heading, such as Documents, moves it — and everything filed in it — out of the certificate register. That move is refused if the heading already holds a category you are not allowed to see;
- delete one with the bin. A category can only be deleted once it is empty: while it still holds certificates (archived ones included) or required-certificate entries, the button is disabled and its tooltip says so.
Setting up the required list
Select a category and the right-hand side lists its required certificates:
- Add New opens Assign Required Documents, a searchable list of standard documents for that category. Tick the ones the vessel needs and press Save. Entries already on the list are not offered again. The list comes from your company's catalog under Database → Vessel Documents, and shows the catalog entries whose category is spelled exactly like the selected category's name; if none match, it reports that everything is already assigned. See the Database section for maintaining that catalog.
- Each row shows a Name and a Status of Enabled or Disabled. The switch turns a requirement off without deleting it — a disabled requirement stops being reported as missing.
- Delete removes the requirement from the list entirely. Certificates already uploaded stay in the register.
Changing this list needs edit rights on vessel settings, plus edit rights on the certificate category itself.
Requirements from a vessel profile
When a new vessel is added with Apply a vessel profile, the required documents chosen in that profile are added to the vessel automatically, under every category of the vessel whose name matches the catalog entry's category (ignoring capitals). A name that exists under both Certificates and Documents therefore gets a requirement in each. If the vessel has no category of that name, one is created — among the certificate categories only when the vessel's licence includes certificates but not vessel documents, otherwise among the document categories. This happens once, when the vessel is created — editing the profile later does not change vessels already set up from it, so adjust their lists here.
Clearing a missing certificate
A requirement is satisfied by any non-archived certificate in that category whose Name matches the requirement's name (ignoring capitals and extra spaces).
On Certificates → Overview or a category page, the Missing tab lists every enabled requirement with no matching certificate in its category; each row is marked Missing under its name. You can clear a missing requirement in two ways:
- Press Add New on the row in the Missing tab. That opens the upload modal with both Name and Category pre-filled and locked, so the uploaded certificate matches the requirement straight away.
- Upload a certificate into that category with the main Add New button (or edit an existing certificate in that category) and pick the required name from the Name suggestions — or let AI extraction match the file to the catalog name.
Once a matching certificate is in place, the requirement disappears from Missing and the certificate shows a tick in the Required column of the register. From then on it is tracked like any other certificate: if it expires or its survey becomes overdue, it is reported under Expired rather than Missing. The count of remaining missing requirements feeds the Missing Certificates row of the dashboard Alerts widget.
A requirement becomes missing again if all matching certificates in its category are archived, renamed, or moved into a different category.