Where candidates fall down
The most common failure on this topic is quoting the rest hour numbers correctly but then being unable to articulate what the Master must do — record, endorse, retain, display, and manage exceptions. Examiners are testing command responsibility, not arithmetic. A second frequent gap is conflating "hours of rest" with "hours of work" frameworks; UK-flagged yachts above the relevant thresholds operate under the rest model (MSN 1877 Amendment 2, giving effect to MLC 2006 and STCW).
The core rest requirements
Minimum rest is:
- 10 hours in any 24-hour period
- 77 hours in any 7-day period
Rest may be split into no more than two periods, one of which must be at least 6 hours. The interval between consecutive rest periods must not exceed 14 hours.
These are floors, not targets. A Master who routinely schedules rosters at the minimum is not managing — they are gambling on any disruption pushing a seafarer below the threshold.
Master's administrative obligations
Records: Rest hour records must be maintained, completed monthly in arrears, endorsed by both the Master and the seafarer, and a copy given to the seafarer. Records must be retained for at least one year.
Display: A table of shipboard working arrangements must be posted in a location accessible to every seafarer, in English and the vessel's working language.
These are not optional housekeeping items. In a port state control inspection, missing or unsigned records, or an absent working arrangements notice, will generate a deficiency — and command responsibility sits with the Master.
Exceptions — the Master's power and duty
The Master may suspend rest requirements and require a seafarer to perform necessary duties during an emergency affecting the safety of the ship, persons on board, or cargo, or to assist other ships or persons in distress.
The key obligations that follow: the situation must genuinely constitute an emergency; once normal operations resume the Master must ensure adequate rest is provided (compensatory rest); the suspension and the compensatory rest arrangements should be documented.
Candidates who only know the suspension power, without knowing the compensatory rest obligation, will be probed and marked down.
Command-level thinking
As Master you are responsible not just for your own rest record but for every seafarer on board. You must monitor the roster prospectively — a passage plan that structurally prevents compliance is a planning failure, not a force majeure. If your crew complement makes a passage inherently non-compliant, you need to address manning before departure, not after.