Transport Malta has issued Commercial Yachting notice 11 dated 18th August 2023.
CY11 is a notice to Yacht Owners, Yacht Operators, Managers, Masters, Owners’ Representatives, Appointed Surveyors and Recognised Organisations. It draws attention to the point in section 17 of the Malta Commercial Yacht Code (CYC) that all Commercial Yachts ≥ 24m in Length shall carry a valid Minimum Safe Manning Certificate, while yachts < 24m must follow the minimum safe manning requirements as detailed in Section 17 of the CYC (Minimum Safe Manning Scales for yachts < 24m metres in length).
For all international and domestic journeys, the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate (for boats ≥ 24 metres) and the Safe Manning Scales (for yachts < 24 metres) are required. The number of crew may be decreased while a yacht is not in use and is laid up and/or wintering at berth, as indicated in Section 17 of the CYC. The Minimum Safe Manning Certificate/Scales standards are no longer necessary in these circumstances. In these situations, the yacht’s owners or managers are in charge of making sure the vessel has the necessary crew requirements. Following a risk analysis conducted by the yacht’s Master, the number of crew may be decreased below the minimum safe manning standards to make sure that:
- Any possible emergency which may occur on board such as fire, unmooring and mooring
can be safely and effectively responded to and handled by experienced crew on board; - Necessary maintenance on board can continue to be carried out. For yachts ≥ 500GT
additional consideration should be given to ensure that the safety management system
(SMS) can continue to be operational and maintained; - The ship security plan (SSP) can continue to be maintained as necessary (for yachts ≥
500GT); - The maximum hours of work and minimum hours of rest shall remain in compliance with
MLC requirements; - Any requirements which may be stipulated by the local Port Authorities and/or the yacht’s
insurance are complied with as required; - Full assistance is provided during any unannounced Port State Control inspection.
Unless they have received warning from the Directorate regarding a potential flag State inspection, owners or operators are not obligated to notify the Directorate when the manning numbers have been reduced during lay-up. When the yacht is anticipated to resume operations with its complete crew, the Directorate should be notified. All onboard surveys must be conducted with the required crew members present.
The full notice can be viewed here.
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