Questions and answers What crews ask us most often.

It depends on where you are starting from. If you are new to the river, the first step is basic safety training: without it you cannot get your first service record book. The second step is the three-year training course, where you work on board and move up the ranks faster. If you already have a service record book and experience, choose by where you want to go next: the boatmaster courses (UNION, Radar and M patent), simulator sessions, ADN, LNG, the radiotelephony course or the passenger navigation expert course.

There are four steps. You start with basic safety training; with its certificate you apply for your service record book. Then you work on board and complete the three-year training course alongside: boatman, able boatman, helmsman. Next comes the boatmaster course for the UNION patent (Union certificate of qualification as boatmaster). You can add the Radar patent and the M patent for inland waterways with a maritime character.

For boatmen: Basic safety training, Training course, Passenger navigation expert course. For boatmasters: Boatmaster course – UNION patent, Radar patent course, M patent course, Small craft and yacht licence course. Additional courses: ADN course, Radiotelephony course, LNG expert course, Simulator sessions, First aid course, Health and safety training, Language course – EN, DE, NL, FR.

In our classrooms in Hlohovec (M. R. Štefánika 31, 920 01 Hlohovec) and Děčín (Labská 24, 405 02 Děčín). Courses with practice on the ship-handling simulator are in Hlohovec, where the simulator is. You will find the place in the questions for each course.

Yes. Basic safety training is accredited and recognised by the transport authorities across the European Union. You can get your service record book in Slovakia, the Czech Republic or another EU country. The UNION patent entitles you to command a vessel on the inland waterways of the European Union. We teach the theory according to the EU delegated directive in force since 2023.

For the courses taught in German (training course, UNION patent, Radar and M patent, passenger navigation expert), TMLG Academy arranges everything: the preparation and the exam take place with us in Hlohovec, and you do not deal with any authority yourself. For the ADN exam you register with the Slovak Transport Authority or the Czech State Navigation Administration (SPS). The radio operator’s exam is held by the Slovak telecommunications authority; we prepare you for it in one day.

Under the new European rules on crew qualifications, both the boatmaster exam and the radar exam have a practical part. It can be taken on a vessel used for this purpose or on a certified simulator. The Slovak Transport Authority has approved our simulator in Hlohovec for the UNION patent practical exam and the Radar patent exam. So we prepare you for both theory and practice, and you take the practical exam right here.

We teach on the basis of decisions of the Slovak Transport Authority, the Slovak and Czech ministries of transport and the ministry of health. Both companies behind TMLG Academy have a quality management system certified to ISO 9001:2015. You will find the decision numbers and scans of the originals on the Certificates and approvals page.

Yes, through the training course. TMLG Academy is part of TMLG Group, a shipping company that provides crews for vessels in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. If you do not already work on board for another company, we will give you an employment contract. You earn on board and study at the same time.

Yes. We teach the training course, the boatmaster course for the UNION patent including the practical exam, the Radar patent, the M patent and the passenger navigation expert course in German. We agree the dates individually.

We are preparing student accommodation, planned to open around January 2027. Until it opens, call registration and we will gladly advise you: Zuzana Panák (+352 661 566 000) in German, Agáta Jendrichovská (+352 661 565 000) in Dutch.

The quickest way is the online application on the course page: choose a date and place. It takes about a minute, and then we get back to you with a confirmation and all the details. You can also apply by phone – in German with Zuzana Panák (+352 661 566 000), in Dutch with Agáta Jendrichovská (+352 661 565 000) – or in person at one of our classrooms.

No. One application is enough for several courses. We will help you choose the courses and dates and with the application.

Prices for the courses taught in German are in the price list, excl. VAT. The other courses are taught in Slovak.

By bank transfer or in cash, at the latest on the day the course starts.

It depends on the course. For basic safety training you can apply up to 3 days before the start. For courses with a state exam it is usually earlier: apply for the ADN course at least a month in advance, because in Slovakia the exam application must be submitted at least 4 weeks before the exam date. If you are not sure, call registration.

Not for the courses taught in German: TMLG Academy arranges the exam and everything around it. For the courses taught in Slovak, you pay the administrative fees for the exam and for issuing the document directly to the authority: the Slovak Transport Authority, the Czech State Navigation Administration or, for the radiotelephony course, the Slovak telecommunications authority.

All scheduled dates are on the Course dates page. We will publish further dates by 15 November 2026.

Ask the head instructor about course content, structure and requirements: Capt. Matúš Pohuba (+421 917 166 721, matus.pohuba@tmlgacademy.eu). Registration and basic information: Zuzana Panák (+352 661 566 000) in German, Agáta Jendrichovská (+352 661 565 000) in Dutch.