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.
