In order to gain an OOW Yachts <3000gt CoC, you will need to do some classroom training, some yacht and sea service, and finally an oral exam.
The course certificates that you must have for OOW <3000gt are:
STCW Basic Safety Week certificates (PSTor RYA Basic Sea Survival/PSSR/Elementary First Aid/Basic Fire Fighting)
RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased cert, plus RYA Yachtmaster Offshore or Yachtmaster Coastal¹ CoC commercially endorsed (either sail or power). Or IYT equivalent.¹
CPSC&RB/Advanced Sea Survival certificate²
GMDSS GOC certificate
OOW Navigation & Radar Theory (course completion & pass) & Simulator certificates
OOW General Ship’s Knowledge course completion & pass certificate
Efficient Deck Hand (EDH) certificate³
Human Element Leadership & Management (Operational) certificate
ECDIS certificate
ENG1 Medical certificate
NOTE: Updating Training for CoC applications– anyone serving on board ship, who holds any of the following certificates must have documentary evidence of either completing the training course or updating training within the last 5 years:
- Personal Survival Techniques
- Proficiency in Survival Craft & Rescue Boats (CPSC & RB)
- Proficiency in Fast Rescue Boats (PFRB)
- Basic Fire Fighting
- Advanced Fire Fighting
If you are yet to receive any of the above certificates, you can still apply for the NoE, but you will need to submit the certificates to the MCA before the CoC can be issued.
¹ NOTE: you don’t need to have a shorebased Yachtmaster Offshore certificate if your Yachtmaster CoC was issued before 31st July 2003. If you do not hold the appropriate mileage for the Yachtmaster Offshore CoC, the MCA will accept the Yachtmaster Coastal CoC. This is detailed here
² NOTE: if you submit an Advanced Sea Survival certificate, your CoC will be endorsed as follows: “not for use on ships equipped with davit launched lifeboats”
³ NOTE: your EDH certificate must have been issued at least 18 months prior to the issue of your OOW CoC
You must also have a Training Record Book, filled in over at least 6 months, and each individual task must be signed off by Captain/Chief Mate/Chief Engineer. NOTE: you do not need a training record book if you can prove 36 months of Actual Sea Service on vessels of at least 24 metres in loadline length.
Required Service:
You need to have 36 months of Yacht service on vessels of any size, including 365 days of Sea service on vessels 15 metres or over in loadline length.
The 365 days of Sea service can be broken down, to make it easier to achieve – you must have 250 days of Actual Sea Service, but the balance of 115 days can be made up with 90 days in the yard and up to 14 consecutive days of standby service at a time (fully fuelled/victualed/crewed whilst waiting for guests to arrive.)
Calculating Sea Service & Watchkeeping
Service should be in the deck department onboard yachts and will be reckoned from the date of engagement to the date of discharge.
A minimum of 4 hours of working duty in 24 hours would count as 1 full day.
A month is defined as a calendar month or 30 days if made up of periods less than 1 month.
At least 6 months of the qualifying seagoing service must have been performed within the 5 years immediately preceding the date that the MCA receive your application.
Service may be performed on vessels of any flag.
Candidates who are serving in a dual engine and deck capacity will have their service counted at the rate of 50%.
Sea Service Verification Process – any service gained on Yachts must have been verified by Nautilus/PYA. Please click here to read about the regulations.
Service Definitions:
Yacht service is counted as the time spent on the vessel, irrespective of the vessel activity, and excludes leave and other non-working time.
Actual Sea Service is the time spent at sea, which may include time at anchor or river and canal transits associated with a passage. If the time at anchor, on a buoy or mooring is part of a passage (i.e. short period at anchor whilst waiting for a berth or to transit a canal or lock) then it may be counted as actual seagoing service but on no occasion may a period of seagoing service at anchor, on a buoy or mooring, exceed that of the previous voyage. If the period at anchor, on a buoy or mooring is at the conclusion of a passage (i.e. the vessel goes to anchor rather than to a berth) then time will be counted as stand-by service.
Standby service is the time immediately following a voyage while the vessel is under preparation for a subsequent voyage. A maximum of 14 consecutive days may be counted at one time, but on no occasion may a period of standby service exceed that of the previous voyage. Therefore, under no circumstances can your total standby service exceed your actual seagoing service.
Yard service is the time when standing by a build, refit or repair.
Watchkeeping service is the actual seagoing service spent as a watchkeeping officer in full charge of a navigational watch for not less than 4 out of every 24 hours while the vessel is engaged on voyage. Watchkeeping service may be recorded on a cumulative basis. This means that every 4 hours watchkeeping accrued may be counted as 1 day of watchkeeping service and does not need to be completed in a 24 hour period. Time spent at anchor associated with a passage, whilst the Officer is engaged in a bridge watch and if this passage is part of the same 24 hour voyage, can also be accepted. Completing more than 4 hours watchkeeping within a 24 hour period cannot be counted as more than 1 day watchkeeping time, e.g. a 12 hour watch within a 24 hour period can only be counted as 1 day of watchkeeping time
Applying for an NoE:
To do the final oral exam for OOW Yachts <3000gt, you will need a Notice of Eligibility. This document is issued once the MCA have assessed your eligibility, and an oral exam cannot be booked until the NoE is issued.
Your service needs to be proved with 2 forms of evidence for each vessel on which you are claiming service time. Usually a Testimonial and a Certificate of Discharge. If you have a discharge book, this can be used with a testimonial for each vessel, or if you are a member of the PYA they will attest your PYA logbook.
You must send a form of ID with your application. You can send a copy of your passport, signed by your Captain and with their CoC number noted, but you can also send any form of National ID – birth certificate or Discharge Book are usually easier to cope without!
It should be noted that written exam pass certificates have a validity of only three years. If your module pass certificates are more than 3 years old when you apply for an NoE you will have to submit new pass certificates to the MCA before they will issue an NoE.
Click here to view MSN 1858 (the testimonial and certificate of discharge can be found as annexes of the M Notice – note that there are different testimonials for service gained by Deckhands and Officers)
You will need to download the application form. You must complete the form and send all of your original certificates and testimonials to the MCA.
The NoE will be processed in about 28 days. Once the NoE is issued you are deemed eligible to take the oral exam.