Crew Agreement
The crew agreement is the collective employment contract between the shipowner and the crew. Under UK law it must be in place before a vessel proceeds to sea with hired crew aboard. Its purpose is to establish the terms of engagement — wages, leave, repatriation, hours — so that both parties have enforceable rights.
As Master you are responsible for ensuring every crew member has signed before departure. A crew member who has not signed has no contractually defined terms and the vessel has no lawful basis for requiring their service. The agreement must be available on board for inspection at all times.
For yachts operating under the Red Ensign Group Yacht Code (REG YC Part A, which superseded LY3), the crew agreement requirements follow the MLC 2006 framework. MLC requires each seafarer to hold a Seafarer Employment Agreement (SEA) containing specific minimum particulars — name and rank, wages, hours, leave entitlement, repatriation conditions and notice period. The SEA and crew agreement are functionally the same instrument in UK practice.
Official Log Book
The Official Log Book (OLB) is the statutory record of events occurring during a voyage. For a UK-registered yacht of a size requiring one (confirm applicable tonnage threshold with your flag authority), it is a legal document and must be maintained accurately and contemporaneously. Entries must not be altered — corrections are made by ruling through and initialling, never by erasure.
Key entries required by law include:
- Steering gear tests (SOLAS V/26): tested within 12 hours before departure; emergency steering drill at least every three months, including direct control from the steering gear compartment
- Drills: monthly abandon ship and fire drills per crew member; drills within 24 hours of departure when more than 25% of crew have been replaced
- Hours of rest: monthly records endorsed by master and seafarer, copy given to seafarer, retained for at least one year
- Deaths, illness, injury, disciplinary proceedings, births, and any deviations from the planned voyage for SAR purposes
The OLB must be produced on demand to a Surveyor or Port State Control officer. Failure to maintain it is an offence.
Inspections
Port State Control officers and MCA surveyors have the right to board, inspect and detain. As Master, your obligation is to facilitate inspection, produce all required documentation promptly and ensure the vessel is in compliance before departure — not to attempt compliance during the inspection. A deficiency list followed by detention is avoidable; a thorough pre-arrival document audit is not.
Complaints Procedure
MLC 2006 requires a ship-board complaints procedure allowing any seafarer to raise a grievance without fear of victimisation. As Master you must ensure the procedure is posted, understood by all crew, and that complaints are handled at the lowest effective level first. Unresolved complaints may be escalated to the flag state or to the port state authority. Victimisation of a complainant is itself a breach of MLC and creates serious liability for the shipowner and, potentially, the Master.