Yacht Watchkeeper

Ship's Manual

Vessel

Pages, tabs & sections

Definitions

Plain-English explanations of maritime, crew-management and scheduling terms.

Regulatory Framework

  • MLC 2006 — Maritime Labour Convention, covering seafarers' working and living conditions, including employment, rest and welfare.
  • STCW — International standards for seafarer training, certification and watchkeeping.
  • MCA — The UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
  • LY3 — A historical edition of the Large Commercial Yacht Code. Confirm the code currently applicable to the vessel.
  • MSN — Merchant Shipping Notice. Check the current notice and amendments.
These explanations are a glossary, not a determination of which regulations apply to a particular yacht.

Hours Of Rest

  • 24-Hour Rest Rule — At least 10 hours of rest in any rolling 24-hour period.
  • 7-Day Rest Rule — At least 77 hours of rest in any rolling seven-day period; exactly 77 is compliant.
  • Rest Period Division — Rest may be divided into no more than two periods, one at least six hours, with no more than 14 hours between them.
  • Emergency Exception — The master's authority to require work for immediate safety, with compensatory rest afterwards.
  • Compensatory Rest — Rest provided to address disruption of the normal rest schedule.

Certificates And Qualifications

  • Certificate of Competency (CoC) — A qualification authorising service in specified capacities.
  • ENG1 — A UK seafarer medical fitness certificate.
  • GMDSS — Global Maritime Distress and Safety System; radio qualifications include GOC and ROC.
  • STCW Basic Safety Training — Core safety training covering survival, firefighting, first aid and personal safety.
  • ECDIS — Electronic Chart Display and Information System.
  • HELM — Human Element, Leadership and Management training.
  • PRVH — Prevention and Response to Violence & Harassment, supplementary PSSR evidence.

Watch Modes

  • Downtime — Scheduling for vessel upkeep and watch coverage outside guest trips or passages.
  • Standby — Vessel operational and ready for service but not underway.
  • Guest On — Scheduling associated with guests aboard.
  • Underway — Scheduling associated with the vessel making a passage.
  • Combined — One watch schedule pooling several departments.
  • UMS — Unmanned Machinery Space operation.

Sea Service And Watchkeeping

  • Sea Service — Service recorded for maritime experience or certification.
  • Actual Sea Service — Service while the vessel is underway at sea.
  • Stand-by Service — Service while operational and ready for sea but not underway.
  • Yard Time — Time associated with shipyard, refit or repair.
  • OOW — Officer of the Watch.
  • Lookout — A person assisting with visual and auditory lookout.

Rotation And Leave

  • Rotation — A crew member's planned periods aboard and away.
  • Travel & Handover Neutral — Travel and handover days neither earn nor use leave; 70 onboard days accrue exactly 70 days' worth.
  • Travel Days — Days recorded for travel, shown in Hours of Rest as Travel.
  • End Of Contract (EOC) — The final-settlement process when employment ends.
  • Notice Worked / Not Worked — Notice actually worked aboard versus served off the vessel.

People And Departments

  • Departments — Captain, Officer, Deck, Engineer, Interior, Galley and Purser.
  • Galley — Chefs and cooks; a department in its own right, not part of Interior.
  • HOD — Head of Department.
  • Temporary Crew — Crew employed for a temporary period, including day-rate arrangements.
  • Contractor — External personnel recorded separately. Contractors are never crew.

Technical And Platform Terms

  • Gross Tonnage (GT) — A measure derived from a vessel's enclosed volume, not its weight.
  • AIS — Automatic Identification System, the vessel position reports used by Vessel Intelligence.
  • Watch Swap — A proposed exchange of watch assignments, subject to approvals.
  • Smart Generate — A schedule-generation aid; review its proposals before saving.
  • Fairness Score — An indicator of watch distribution.
  • Station — The shared onboard tablet used for gangway, watches and roll call.
  • View As — An admin tool to see exactly what another person can see.