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DG Shipping Institute Grades Explained: What A1 to C2 Means for Your Admission

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Every admission season, families compare maritime institutes on brochures, hostel photos and promises. Very few know that DG Shipping already grades these institutes, on a scale from A1 (Excellent) to C2 (Poor), after a formal inspection. That grade is one of the most useful things you can check before you pay a pre-sea course fee.

On 20 March 2026, the Directorate General of Shipping issued DGS Order No. 3 of 2026, which brings the inspection and grading of all approved maritime training institutes (MTIs) under one Comprehensive Inspection Programme, or CIP. This guide explains what it means for you as a student or parent. Every detail below comes from the order itself, checked on 11 November 2026.

The Grading Scale at a Glance

GradeScore in the inspectionDG Shipping’s own remark
A190% and aboveExcellent
A280% to 89.99%Very Good
B170% to 79.99%Good
B260% to 69.99%Average
C150% to 59.99%Below Average
C2Below 50%Poor

The score comes from credit points the inspectors award against a detailed checklist. An institute gets a separate grade for each type of course it runs: pre-sea, competency and modular. If you are joining a pre-sea course such as GP Rating, DNS or B.Sc Nautical Science, the pre-sea grade is the one that matters to you.

What the 2026 Order Changed

Before this order, institutes went through three separate inspection programmes, set up by earlier orders in 2014, 2016 and 2018. DGS Order No. 3 of 2026 merges them into one CIP. In practice:

  • One inspection per institute, done by the same inspecting body for all its courses during a cycle. Inspections are carried out by DG Shipping’s Mercantile Marine Department or by a classification society approved as a Recognized Organization.
  • A three-year cycle: an initial full inspection, followed by two annual inspections. CIP certificates are issued course type by course type, valid for a maximum of three years.
  • An ISO 9001 quality system, certified by a body accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies, is mandatory for every institute.
  • The final grade is to be displayed on the DG Shipping website, according to the order.

The order covers the pre-sea courses most of our students aim for, including B.Sc Nautical Science, DNS, the four-year marine engineering degree, GME, DME, ETO, GP Rating and the certificate course in maritime catering.

Why DG Shipping Is Tightening This

The order is unusually honest about the problem. It says several institutes failed to match the number of students they admitted with their ability to offer a training berth on a ship after the course, and it talks about a “huge backlog” of trainees who finished pre-sea training but could not get the sea time they need for their first certificate.

It goes further. It says trainees “have been at times, abandoned by the MTI after completion of the pre-sea course”, and that this often leaves them trapped by unscrupulous agents promising sea service. If you have ever wondered why we keep telling families to ask about placement before they ask about the hostel, this is why.

Placement Now Counts, and It Is Defined Strictly

Under the order, placement is counted only when a trainee has actually been signed on to a ship, with the sign-on date taken from DG Shipping’s e-governance system as evidence. A promise, a letter of interest or a “waiting list” does not count.

The inspection checklist also looks at whether the institute has a working placement cell, whether it shows placement records on its website, and its tie-ups with shipping companies for the current batch, including sponsorship letters naming trainees.

And one rule speaks directly to quality: an institute running pre-sea courses can increase its batch size only if it is graded A1 or A2 in the pre-sea CIP and has at least an 85% placement record for each approved batch.

What Else the Inspectors Check

The checklist runs to many pages. A few items show what DG Shipping thinks good training looks like:

  • Whether selection results are published on the institute’s website, as a sign of a transparent admission process.
  • Faculty numbers and qualifications, and whether intake stays within the sanctioned seats.
  • Hostel standards: dormitories are not allowed, and the checklist covers toilets, furniture, hygiene, round-the-clock supervision and the quality of food.
  • Students’ results in internal and external examinations.

Serious failings are recorded as major non-conformities. The order says that while a major non-conformity is open, the institute’s grade is not valid, and failing to fix it in time can lead to suspension or withdrawal of approval.

How to Use This Before You Pay a Fee

  1. Confirm the institute and the exact course are on the DG Shipping approved list. Our guide shows how to verify a DG Shipping approved institute.
  2. Ask the institute, in writing, for its current pre-sea CIP grade and the date of its last inspection. A good institute will tell you without hesitation.
  3. Check whether DG Shipping’s website shows the grade, as the order requires.
  4. Ask how many students from the last two or three batches were actually signed on to ships, and how long they waited.
  5. Read the fee and refund terms carefully. Our guide to merchant navy course fees shows what official fee notices look like.

We could not find a public, up-to-date table of every institute’s grade at the time of writing, so please treat the institute’s own answer as a claim to verify, not a fact.

A Grade Is a Tool, Not a Guarantee

An A1 grade does not promise your child a ship, and a newer institute is not bad just because its grade is lower. But the grade is an independent signal, checked by inspectors rather than written by a marketing team, and it is free to ask about. Combined with the new CDC rules, which now require an approved pre-sea course, choosing the right institute matters more than ever. Our post on the new CDC rules explains that change.

If you would like help preparing for the entrance or sponsorship exams of a well-graded institute, talk to us at Officers Maritime Academy in Dehradun.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What is CIP grading for maritime institutes?

A: CIP is DG Shipping’s Comprehensive Inspection Programme. Inspectors score an approved maritime training institute against a checklist and grade it from A1 (Excellent, 90% and above) to C2 (Poor, below 50%), separately for pre-sea, competency and modular courses.

A: Issued on 20 March 2026, it merges three earlier inspection programmes into one CIP with a three-year cycle, requires ISO 9001 certification, and says the final grade is to be displayed on the DG Shipping website.

A: For pre-sea courses, look at the pre-sea CIP grade. A1 means Excellent and A2 Very Good. Only A1 or A2 institutes with at least 85% placement for each batch can increase their pre-sea batch size.

A: Placement counts only when a trainee is actually signed on to a ship, using the sign-on date recorded on DG Shipping’s e-governance system.

A: No. A grade is an independent check of an institute’s quality and placement record, but no institute can guarantee a ship. Ask for recent batch placement figures in writing.

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