Maritime and Coastguard Agency launches Yacht Unlimited Certificate of Competency

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is opening a new qualification pathway for Deck Officers to safely advance their careers on large yachts, strengthening professionalism and opportunity for crew and operators in the growing sector. 

The new Yacht Unlimited Certificate of Competency (CoC) allows holders to become Chief Mate or Master on any size yacht – including those above 3,000 gross tonnage – anywhere in the world without having to interrupt their career to gain training and experience on cargo vessels. 

The new route instead accepts modern, tailored training through the recently updated UK maritime syllabus – a product of the MCA’s ongoing Cadet Training and Modernisation Programme. 

MCA Chief Examiner Ajit Jacob said

The Yacht Unlimited CoC wraps up safety, professionalism and flexibility to improve opportunity and performance for seafarers, operators, passengers and the wider UK maritime industry.

This groundbreaking approach recognises the skills that are indispensable to all deck officers, as well as the require specialist knowledge and experience required to lead crews safely and effectively in separate sectors. 

We hope the new qualification pathway propels ambitious deck officers into the career of their choice while maintaining the high standards expected at unlimited management level.

The Yacht Unlimited CoC will be issued in accordance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) alternative certification provisions and will be formally communicated to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). 

The previous certification route, even for those intending to work exclusively on large yachts, required experienced Masters of Yachts to first obtain an Officer of the Watch (OOW) Unlimited Merchant CoC.  

They then had to complete further training and additional seagoing service, progressing through Chief Mate and further seagoing service before ultimately achieving Master Unlimited. 

This process frequently took many years to complete and proved unfeasible for many experienced professionals. 

The new route streamlines progression, allowing seagoing service on yachts to be accepted as operationally appropriate, while remaining fully aligned with the high competency and safety standards of the STCW Convention for Unlimited CoC.   

This approach maintains regulatory integrity while avoiding unnecessary duplication of service and loss of career continuity for experienced seafarers. 

The new route enables progression from Master (Yachts) less than 3,000 GT to a Master unlimited (Yachts) CoC and a new route for Chief Mate unlimited (Yachts) CoC.  

It also provides streamlined progression for candidates who have already completed management level academic qualifications at MCA approved colleges, such as a Foundation Degree or Higher National Diploma (HND). 

The Yacht Unlimited CoC was created through extensive collaboration between the MCA, maritime colleges, seafarer representatives and industry operators.  

It is specifically for large yachts above 3,000 gross tonnage and does not grant Unlimited Chief Mate or Master status on any other vessel type. 

A corresponding pathway for engineers to gain Yacht Unlimited CoC is also in development, following the same principles, and is scheduled to be launched this year. 

Full details of the new Yacht Unlimited CoC can be found in Section 4 of MSN 1858 (Amendment 1).