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1 INTRODUCTION

Although work is currently being done on the

homogenization of qualifications and requirements

for private and professional navigation between the

different EU countries, it seems that there is no real

will on the part of the different EU countries to adopt

an agreement that ends with the numerous and

different regulations required in each country

(Castells, M.& Torralbo, J. 2012).

The volume of business of the nautical charter in

the Mediterranean grows annually, but professional

and private boats of flags with greater fiscal

advantages and lower requirements in the matter of

security are those that acquire greater relevance and

professional qualifications that allow one to pilot

vessels of other nationalities are the most demanded

In the European Union there is no uniform and

recognized criterion for piloting boats. (ANEN, 2010)

The requirements are very different depending on the

member state. The European International Certificate

(ICC) is created with the aim of ensuring that the

skippers of the vessels are competent to guarantee the

safety of the navigation and protection of the

environment when they change from one country to

another. However, only 16 member states of the EU

have adopted this resolution so far. Spain, Greece and

Portugal, among others have not adopted this

resolution (EBA, 2014). ICC refers only to the private

use of boats but not to professional use, since

September 2014, the TEC-SCV TRECVET project

(Core Curriculum for Skippers of Small Commercial

Vessels), financed by the European Union with the

aim of analyzing and comparing the different

qualifications for recreational craft professional

standards required by the different EU member states

and suggesting a common core curriculum for all of

them, several EU member states are working together

to establish the methodology and procedure of the

Study Plans, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, France, the

United Kingdom and the Czech Republic are

currently part of this project.

The Need for Unification and Harmonization in a

Maritime Licensing Standard for Recreational Craft

J.L. Alonso

-Enriquez, F. Piniella & J.I. Alcaide

Unive

rsity of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

ABSTRACT: The objective of this document is to make clear the importance of simplifying the transit of

pleasure boats and their skippers safely in the European territory with the foreseeable improvement of the

functioning of the internal market. In many European countries recreational skippers are required to have

specific training and experience in order to demonstrate their maritime competence. These licenses for

navigation allow a recreational vessel to be skippered in each national territory. One of the main objectives of

these qualifications is to reduce the number of accidents in recreational boating. Generally speaking, in the

European Union, as regards the requirements for the management of pleasure craft, both private and

professional, the requirements are very different depending on the member state.

http://www.transnav.eu

the

International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 14

Number 1

March 2020

DOI:

10.12716/1001.14.01.28

222

There is a clear need to adopt urgent measures to

address this subjects in this regard with the aim of

strengthening this sector, to given, as has been shown

above, that the nautical industry has a stimulative

effect on the European economy and that could

produce greater added value in terms of effective

production and economic impact (ANEN, MBYA,

2012).

With the publication in Spain of Royal Decree

875/2014, of 10 October, which establishes the

necessary qualifications for recreational boating,

professional yacht charters and nautical schools and

the Professional Certificate of Professional Employer

of pleasure boats (PPER) created in 2011 and modified

in 2017, the administration intends to promote the

tourism sector of recreational boating in Spain, thus

favoring the professionalization of this sector.

1.1 Hypothesis and objective

The possible risks to navigation and the environment

due to a lack of competence may become evident,

although there is no comprehensive nautical

certification in the European Union. The objective of

this study is to evaluate the safety of recreational

sailors, motivated by the lack of a regulatory

framework in the European common space, in

relation to safety requirements and nautical

qualifications.

2 METHODOLOGY

The review of documentation and data collection has

been more important in this study. From the literature

review it is clear that the amount of reports on the

nautical industry and recreation in general is not

enough. At the same time, it was clear that the

statistical data sources ANEN, EMSA or national and

European public agencies provide very useful

information, although there are also limitations, not

only in their content but also in the different criteria

for issuing reports that in many cases exclude

recreational boating in their annual summaries or

group it with other types of vessels, which makes a

statistical analysis of these accidents difficult. The

analysis of all these documents it has been possible to

extract the obtained results.

3 RESULTS

In Europe, any type of recreational craft marketed in

Europe must have the CE mark, which should imply

that all these boats meet the same safety

requirements. This is not so every country regulates

mandatory safety equipment; periodic inspections of

vessels and communications equipment for boats

with their flag, there are notable differences between

EU countries.

In the proposed context, the following figure

shows the home page of a U.K company website that

offers to register ships under the Belgian flag. The

web page provides information about the various

advantages of not having to pass periodic reviews of

the boat or the minimum safety equipment (see,

belgiumyachtregistration.com).

We can mention the differences between some of

the requirements of the Belgian flag in relation to the

Spanish flag, in the latter the vessels of more than 6

meters in length need periodic reviews by the

administration, life rafts when to more than 12 miles

offshore and radio beacons, requirements that are not

mandatory under the Belgian flag.

The lack of harmonization of the requirements for

safety and for the obtaining of nautical licenses for

recreational boats of the community zone generates a

flow of convenience flags to countries with criteria of

security, taxation and regulations that are generally

friendlier to security than this type of navigation)

(Landaluce, A, 2014).

The countries belonging to the European

framework require, with few exceptions to that the

pilot have specific training and experience so as to be

able to demonstrate their maritime competence. These

licenses for navigation make it possible to pilot a

pleasure craft in each national territory; one of the

objectives of these licenses is to reduce the number of

accidents in recreational boating. It is important to

bear in mind that the requirements to obtain the

licenses and personal training of each future pilot are

different depending on the member state of the

European Union.

The analysis of nautical certificates reveals a lack

of uniformity in the European Union in relation to the

requirements for obtaining the different permits. This

diversity of training criteria should be standardized

for all member states plus if possible when the

number of boats registered in Europe is 9.5 million

(Figure 1) (ECSIP, 2015).

Figure 1. Numbers pleasure boats registered EU.

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is

an agency of the European Union accused of reducing

the risk of maritime accidents, marine pollution of

ships and loss of human lives at sea by helping to

enforce the relevant legislation of the sea The EU.

EMSA was established with the aim of guaranteeing a

high and uniform level of maritime safety throughout

the European area (Regulation 1406/2002 / EC, 2002).

But surprisingly the safety of recreational craft does

not fall within EMSA's mandate and they do not have

publications or studies in this regard (Gianonatt M,

2017).

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In the particular case of Spain Maritime Rescue

statistics show that the total number of recreational

vessels involved in maritime emergencies in their

waters is very high. For example, emergencies related

to boats at sea during 2017 were of a total of 4,747

emergency vessels, of which 2,470 belonged to

recreational activities (Figure 2). Taking into account

the data related to accidents in this type of vessels, we

can observe that in the 200,000 recreational boats in

the Spanish Registry, 1.23% (2470) had an emergency

situation (Sasemar, 2018). The statistical data show

that a large number of maritime accidents are related

to recreational vessels. However, in most cases, there

is no research on the causes of them.

Figure 2. Assisted Vessel Spain 2017.

In Norway, only 45% of users of recreational

boating have nautical qualifications, and only since

2015 the use of life vests is mandatory, also recently it

is essential for those born after 1980 to train to have a

nautical license (Amundsen & Bjørnskau, 2017).

There were The deceased in practicing boating in

Norway in 2016 were thirty, while the deceased in

Italy and Spain these were nine and sixteen

respectively.

The vast majority of organizations and agencies

responsible for the investigation of maritime accidents

do not carry out an analysis focused exclusively on

pleasure craft. This fact makes it even more difficult

to determine the main causes of maritime accidents in

recreational activities. To improve the safety aspects

of recreational boats, the existence of studies and

statistics on maritime accidents on pleasure craft

would provide very important conclusions for its

study (MIT, 2018).

The knowledge of these conventions implies

specific training for pilots. This training must be

guaran-teed by obtaining licenses for navigation, but

unfortunately this is not true in all EU countries, as

we can see in the following examples from some

European countries.

Sweden: No special qualification is required to

skiper a recreational boat less than 12 meters in length

and 4 meters in width. But each skipper of a

recreational craft is subject to the provisions of the

Swedish Maritime Code, which states that all vessels

must be safely manned and the skippers must have

good skills and seamanship, otherwise they may be

fined or even imprisoned.

The Netherlands: No special qualification is

required for piloting a Dutch vessel on inland

waterways to pilot a motor boat or sailboat less than

15 meters or at a speed is less than 20 km / h.

However, the pilot is expected to know the rules of

water ways.

Italy: No special qualification is required to pilot

sailboats and motor boats if the navigation exceeds 6

miles of port or power greater than 30 kW (40.8 HP).

UK: No special qualification is required to steer a

vessel in navigation around the coast or further out to

the sea. To pass through one of the British states.

However, many navigable waterways require a

license or registration of the authority.

France: No special qualification is required to steer

a vessel in France if the engine power is less than 6

HP (4.5 kW). For sailboats you do not need a license

to navigate.

Ireland: No special compulsory qualification is

required for pilot a boat in Ireland.

Germany: No license is required for sailboats and

motor or electric boats with a power rating below 3.68

kW (5 HP).

Spain: No license is required for vessels of less

than 11.6 Kw and 2 miles offshore (EBA, 2014).

3.1 European certified proposal

The origins of an International Certificate arose from

the requirement to sail along the Rhine and the

Danube, and the need to ensure that ship captains

were competent to ensure the safety of navigation and

the protection of the environment when they moved

from one country to another. As a result, Re-solution

14 was adopted in 1979 (Resolution No. 14, 1979)

which recommended the introduction of a European

document for an international Certificate

(International Card).

Resolution 14 was soon outdated and needed an

up-date that was made in 1998, when Resolution 40

was adapted; that repealed Resolution 14. It

establishes minimum requirements of technical

competence as well as regulatory knowledge that

must be achieved and a minimum age for the issuance

of an international Certificate.

For the issuance of an international certificate, the

applicant must have a minimum age of 16 years, be

physically and mentally fit to command master a

pleasure craft, must have sufficient visual and

auditory capacity, successfully pass an exam to

demonstrate competence necessary to operate

recreational boats and have sufficient knowledge of

the rules on recreational vessels and nautical and

technical knowledge necessary for safety.

Although its acceptance is guaranteed only in

countries that adopted Resolution 40, in very general

terms, the ICC is required for navigation on the

inland waterways of Europe, for the continental and

coastal waters of some Mediterranean countries. For

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the coastal waters of northern Europe, the ICC is

generally not mandatory, however, there are

exceptions to all these generalizations.

This Resolution 40 is not mandatory for EU

countries. Only 16 member states of the EU have

adopted a resolution so far. Spain, Greece and

Portugal, for example, have not adopted Resolution

40.

4 CONCLUSIONS

There is no European statistics on accident rate in

recreational boating, while the fleet of recreational

boat is far superior to any other type of fleet, 9.5

million registered boats, added to those that do not

need registration and the economic importance is

growing. We can also affirm that there is no

coordination or equivalence between EU countries in

reference to access, requirements and licensing

privileges to sail with pleasure boats. Therefore, in

some countries there is no need for a license for

recreational boats and in other countries they

establish requirements to access these licenses by

imposing limitations of length, power, distance from

the coast or speed of the boat which make mandatory

a navigation license.

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