Keeping Crew Safe and Alert: Latest Crew Rest Regulations from Cayman

The Cayman Islands Shipping Registry published a Guidance Note this month regarding Seafarer’s Rest and Fitness for Duty.

This Guidance Note reiterates the compulsory hours of work and rest as noted in the STCW code and MLC 2006. These are generally achievable on larger yachts with a larger crew complement but can be more problematic for smaller yachts where the requirements of the guests can result in a greater demand on fewer crew making it more challenging to adhere to the regulations.

It is of course reasonable to interrupt a seafarer’s period of rest in an emergency, however this should not include servicing normal guest requests and activities. Any necessary interruptions should  be compensated with additional periods of rest at the earliest opportunity.

Owners, Operators and Masters have primary responsibility for ensuring that the regulations are adhered to. If the Master feels they are unable to maintain adequate levels of rest for their crew, they must urgently escalate this to the Owner and Operator to ensure corrective measures  can be put in place to avoid future deviation from the regulations.

It is especially important during the new build process to consider the intended operations of the yacht and the crew complement required, for safe manning purposes, operational service levels and to comply with the hours of work and rest. If insufficient crew accommodation is planned for at the new build stage this could compromise the yacht in terms of its responsibility to the health and wellbeing of its crew. Also bear in mind that the   minimum safe manning policy issued by the Flag State may be not sufficient, as this only considers the ability of the seafarers to safeguard the yacht, and not necessarily its guest service requirements, so additional crew accommodation must be considered during the early stages.

This Guidance Note also indicates that seafarer rest will continue to be  a point of focus for future surveys and audits  on Cayman flagged yachts.   This notice will  be of particular interest for smaller yachts who carry less crew and find it more challenging to comply.

The Guidance  Notice re-enforces that the  fundamental objective of a seafarer is to ensure the safe operation of the yacht for the crew and guests, and this needs to be kept in mind during busy periods within the peak seasons.

With over 50 years’ experience in the yacht industry the Sarnia Yachts Crew team can advise Operators so they can develop a clear policy on manning resource and seafarer rest within their Safety Management Systems.

For more information, please contact Kirsty Porritt, Head of Crew Management.

See full details of the Cayman Islands Guidance Notice.

This article was originally published on the www.sarniayachts.com. Sarnia Yachts was acquired by Praxis Group in July 2023 and is now trading as Praxis Yacht Services.

Please note that this article is intended to provide a general overview of the matters to which it relates. It is not intended as professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. Any engagement in respect of our professional services is subject to our standard terms and conditions of business and the provision of all necessary due diligence. © Praxis 2023