Why drills exist — the commander's perspective
Muster and abandonment drills are not a compliance box-tick. They exist because the moment of abandonment is the highest-stress, lowest-visibility decision point of a voyage. If crew and passengers have not rehearsed the sequence under your direction, they will not execute it reliably when it counts. As Master, you own the drill programme — not the owner, not the management company.
The regulatory framework
For a yacht <500 GT operating under the Red Ensign Group Yacht Code (REG YC), the drill requirements derive from SOLAS III/19 as implemented through the REG YC. The headline obligations are:
- Monthly abandon ship and fire drill — every crew member, every month.
- Within 24 hours of departure — if more than 25% of the crew have been replaced since the last drill.
- Before sailing — on entry into service, after major modification, or when a substantially new crew joins.
These intervals are the minimum. On a working superyacht, crew turnover is frequent; the 25% trigger will apply regularly. You must track complement against the last drill date and act before departure, not after.
What the drill must achieve
A compliant and effective abandon ship drill must include:
- Crew mustered at their assigned muster stations, in lifejackets.
- Demonstration of the correct donning of lifejackets (not assumed; demonstrated).
- Deployment and inspection of immersion suits where carried.
- Operation of the survival craft — launching, boarding, and where practicable, manoeuvring in water. For inflatable liferafts, actual inflation on the water periodically ensures familiarity with the hydrostatic release, painter operation, and boarding procedure.
- Use of pyrotechnic signals — at a minimum, crew must know the stowage location, type, and operation; live firing during training sessions (permitted ashore in a controlled setting) is best practice.
- Familiarity with EPIRB and SART/AIS-SART activation.
The Master's directing role
Organising means you plan who does what before the drill begins — muster list allocations are made, duties posted, and no person is left without an assigned role. Directing means you run the drill, you observe, and you debrief. Shortfalls identified — slow mustering, incorrect lifejacket donning, unfamiliarity with launch arrangements — become corrective actions before the next drill, not observations filed and forgotten.
Record every drill in the Official Log Book: date, time, names of those who participated, narrative of what was practised. If a crew member is absent from a drill, record why and ensure they complete a make-up drill before sailing.
Command-level judgement
Passengers are not crew and are not required to participate in crew drills, but a passenger safety briefing (covering muster stations, lifejacket stowage and donning, and emergency signals) must be given before or immediately on departure. On a charter yacht, this is your personal responsibility to verify has occurred — delegate the delivery, never delegate the accountability.