Entry & progression
Shipmaster's business and management is the second of the three approved training areas. It is the part of command that is done sitting down, and it is the part that detains vessels.
The ship's papers
You do not need to memorise every certificate. You need to know what each one proves, who issued it, when it expires, and what happens if it lapses.
| Certificate | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| Certificate of registry | The vessel's nationality and ownership |
| Tonnage certificate | Gross and net tonnage — the figure your ticket is measured against |
| Load line certificate | The vessel's assigned freeboard |
| Safety certificates (SOLAS) | Construction, equipment, radio — the ship is fit |
| Safety Management Certificate | The ship operates an approved SMS (ISM) |
| Document of Compliance | The Company operates an approved SMS (ISM) — a copy is held aboard |
| International Ship Security Certificate | The ship complies with the ISPS Code |
| IOPP / IAPP / sewage / garbage | MARPOL compliance, annex by annex |
| Minimum safe manning document | The crew the flag state requires you to sail with |
| Certificates of competency, crew | That your people hold what the manning document demands |
The date that matters is the next one
Certificates fall due. Surveys fall due. Statutory surveys have windows — annual, intermediate, renewal — and they have anniversary dates, and the window is not infinite. A yacht that misses a survey window can find a certificate has lapsed rather than expired, which is a materially worse problem and can require the full renewal survey.
Build a certificate matrix. One page, every certificate, issue date, expiry, next survey window, who does it. Review it on the first of every month. This is not bureaucratic diligence; it is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.
Clearance — in and out
Arriving in a port means satisfying, in some order, customs, immigration, quarantine or biosecurity, and the port authority. The documents are broadly predictable: crew list, passenger list, stores list, ports of call, health declaration, arms and currency declarations where required, and the vessel's certificates for inspection.
- Crew list — accurate, and matching passports and certificates exactly.
- Guest and passenger list — remembering the yacht definition caps you at 12.
- Stores and bond — sealed, declared, and not quietly consumed in port.
- Waste and food — biosecurity is where yachts most often come unstuck.
CAUTION — Australian arrival and clearance requirements are not in this course Australian border, biosecurity and customs arrangements for arriving vessels are administered by agencies other than AMSA, and the requirements change. This lesson teaches the shape of clearance, not the Australian procedure. Before you clear into Australia, obtain the current requirements from the responsible agencies and confirm AMSA's requirements at amsa.gov.au. Do not sail on what a course told you two years ago.
The agent
A good agent is worth their fee twice over and is not a substitute for knowing what they are doing on your behalf. The master signs. If the agent files something false, it is your signature on it.