Professional title skipper, but where did you go?

The professional title of skipper fails to set sail. After last May’s executive decree that laid down the methods and subjects for taking the examination for “2nd Class Recreational Navigation Officer,” or the new figure of professional skipper, everything seemed ready to go.

This is excellent news for so many aspiring recreational captains (about 3,000 according to estimates by Confindustria Nautica) who have been waiting for years for a qualification untethered from the merchant sector, as well as for dozens of charter companies forced to deal with untraceable professionals and to focus on leasing (unmanned) rather than chartering (crewed).

Instead, months after the publication of the decree, no captain’s office, the facilities in charge of conducting the examinations according to at least a six-month schedule, has these tests scheduled. Everything is at a standstill. How come?

Professional title skipper. How come everything is at a standstill?

Instead, months after the publication of the decree, no captain’s office, the facilities in charge of conducting the examinations according to at least a six-month schedule, has these tests scheduled. Everything is at a standstill. How come?

Blocking the measure would be a set of interpretive, organizational and even economic difficulties that are effectively paralyzing maritime authority commands. Beginning with the criteria for access to the training courses required to access the professional title. Let’s see why.

The problem with STCW courses.

One of the essential features of the new professional skipper is that he or she is an unprecedented “simplified” figure in the maritime industry. In fact, for the first time, those who work on board are not required to have a seaman’s logbook or registration with the Seafarers’ Registers, nor even an apprenticeship in navigation. A bureaucratic streamlining that has been demanded by the industry for years.

However, among the requirements for the new 2nd Class Recreational Officer is the obligation to pass specific training courses: basic firefighting, survival and rescue, personal safety and social responsibility (Pssr), and medical first aid (First Aid). These courses are actually already required by the international convention “Stcw” (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) for embarked seafarers and carried out by special authorized institutes, which in most cases require those participating to be registered with the Seafarers. However, as mentioned, the new professional title of skipper does not require registration with the People of the Sea. So can new recreational skippers participate in these courses? The problem has been partly solved by a circular that also gave the 2nd Class Recreational Officer the green light to enter for the Personal Safety and Social Responsibility (Pssr) course, the survival and rescue course, and the basic firefighting course. Nothing is yet known, on the other hand, regarding the first aid course (First Aid), to be conducted at public health facilities, access to which would still remain precluded to those not enrolled among seafarers. A final piece that threatens to bring everything to a halt.

Professional title skipper, which offshore course?

A further interpretative doubt had then arisen for the “personal safety course for offshore sailing,” which the May executive order places as an alternative to the two courses in survival and rescue and personal safety and social responsibility (Pssr). Is this the one already conducted in several training centers on the Peninsula required by the Offshore Sailing Regulations of World Sailing (the world sailing federation), to participate in the most challenging offshore races? No, again a recent ministerial circular has clarified that this is a new course for which an ad hoc program has been drawn up that includes a theoretical and a practical part for a minimum duration of 20 hours. It can be organized by sports federations that are members of CONI, national recreational associations, institutes, institutions or companies that have specific requirements (including a pool suitable for liferaft exercises) and by submitting a special application to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

Bureaucracy & Money

So even though the fog is slowly lifting on the professional skipper, the exams are still struggling to get off the ground. Affecting them may be some organizational problems declared by some maritime offices: Would still lack both the necessary forms and guidance on how to coordinate examination calendars. Infine, ma non per ultimo, alcune Capitanerie denuncerebbero un problema di carenza di fondi.

Organizing exams costs money (committee participants receive an attendance fee) and no specific funds would be allocated for this new title. An obstacle, the latter, that could be partially obviated by merging this exam with others intended for seafarers. Assumptions. The reality is that everyone is waiting for clarification on how to proceed. However, it seems very unlikely that the examination for the new professional recreational skipper will take off any time soon.

Fabrizio Coccia (updated 03/11/2024)

Focus / 1 – The endless process of the professional title skipper

The yachting industry has always been waiting for a professional qualification for the skipper that would allow the chartering business to be conducted in good standing and without being caged in the complex regulations of the merchant sector. But something has always gone wrong.

Beginning with the first figure of “skipper of pleasure craft for hire,” established in 1996, which provided precisely for registration among the Seafarers, the lists of maritime personnel. It got even worse later, when in 2005 a ministerial regulation introduced as many as 6 titles for pleasure craft (3 engine and 3 deck) all with compulsory registration in the Seafarer’s Guild, plus the burden of 36 months of “booklet” sailing and the passing of a maxi exam taken from those for leading merchant ships.

Result: zero skippers, or almost. Reason why in 2017, taking advantage of the revision of the Recreational Code, the title of 2nd Class Recreational Navigation Officer was created, postponing its operation until a later regulation. It seemed done and instead the whole thing fell into oblivion.

Indeed, another 6 years had to pass before this measure was drafted and published only in December 2023. Is the wait over? No, because out of this matrioska law here popped up yet another postponement to define examination modalities and programs. Yet another step that was accomplished last May with a managerial decree of the Ministry of Transport and Navigation, which, however, seems to have not yet closed this long route so as to finally send the law to port.

Focus / 2 – The examination program to obtain the professional title of skipper

PLEASURE BOATING OFFICER 2ND CLASS – EXAMINATION PROGRAM

THEORETICAL TEST.

1. Ship theory

Elements of ship theory and stability. Evolutionary effects of the propeller and rudder.

2. Engines

Operating elements of motor propulsion systems. Knowledge of auxiliary machinery. Operating irregularities and failures. Calculation of range in relation to engine power and remaining fuel quantity.

3. Safety of navigation

Safety regulations, with special reference to safety equipment, life-saving equipment and the use of fire extinguishers. First aid medicine box. Types of security visits and their periodicity.

Fire prevention. Measures to be taken in the event of a casualty (fire, collision, grounding, failure of steering gear, spillage of polluting liquids, man overboard). Measures to be taken for the safety of persons on board in the event of a casualty or abandonment of the unit. Precautions to be taken when sailing in adverse weather conditions. Assistance and rescue: rescue signs and their meaning. Proper use of on-board radio equipment, with emphasis on assistance and rescue. Radiotelephone communications and related procedures. International Signal Code.

4. Maneuvering and conduct

Precautions when entering and leaving harbors, while navigating near the coast or bodies of water, where other boating activities take place. Allowable speeds.

Maneuvers of mooring, unmooring, anchoring and man overboard recovery.

5. Colreg and maritime signaling

Regulations to prevent boardings at sea. Light beacons and daylight signals of ships at anchor, maritime signals and traffic regulations in inland waters. List of beacons and fog signals.

6. Meteorology

Elements of meteorology. General circulation of the atmosphere. Elements that characterize weather conditions: pressure, temperature, humidity. Cloud formation and their characteristics. Warm front and cold front. Winds, currents, and tides. Beaufort and Douglas scales. Meteorological instruments and their use. Weather bulletins for maritime navigation. Local weather forecast.

7. Cartographic and electronic navigation

Geographic coordinates. Nautical charts. Mercator projection and other types of projection. Orientation and compass rose. Earth’s magnetism, magnetic poles and geographic poles, magnetic declination, magnetic compasses. Table of residual edge deviations. Distinction between rhumb line and orthodromic navigation. Estimated navigation: time, space and speed. Coastal navigation. Instruments for measuring ship speed. Vessel point positioning, including through the use of electronic tools. Bow and course; effect of wind and current on the motion of the vessel (drift and drift). Nautical publications: pilot book, list of lighthouses and fog signals, coastal navigation radios.

8. Boating and environmental regulations

Powers, duties, and responsibilities of the commander. Documents to be kept on board pleasure craft for private use and pleasure craft for hire. Design categories of CE-marked recreational craft and associated navigational limits. Regulation of bathing activities, water skiing, sport fishing and underwater fishing. Shipboard waste delivery and spillage into the sea. Elements of the regulation of marine protected areas.

Laws and regulations governing recreational boating, recreational boating code, regulations implementing the recreational boating code, and other regulatory sources applicable to recreational boating, with special reference to: powers of the Maritime and Inland Navigation Authority; ordinances of local maritime and inland navigation authorities; regulations governing the commercial use of recreational units; and penalty regulations for recreational boating.

PRACTICAL TESTING.

During the practical test, the candidate demonstrates the ability to drive the naval unit at different gaits, maintained over stretches of navigation of at least 1/2 nautical mile, carrying out with skill and promptness of action the necessary maneuvers, including those aimed at the recovery of man overboard, mooring, unmooring and anchoring of the naval unit, correctly using the devices on board and demonstrating competence in the proper use of safety equipment, life-saving and fire-fighting equipment. The candidate demonstrates the ability to make the necessary preparations for adverse weather conditions and to take preventive measures to safeguard human life at sea.

Focus 3 / Professional title skipper. Requisiti & limitazioni

YACHTING NAVIGATION OFFICER 2ND CLASS

The units he can bring

The 2nd class recreational navigation officer may embark as a master on the following Italian-flagged vessels of up to 200 GT*:

– Pleasure boats and ships, including those used for charter;

– Ships intended exclusively for chartering for tourist purposes

• * GT (gross tonnage) is a volumetric, international standard measure of the gross tons of all enclosed spaces of a ship.

The limits of navigation

– Can sail in the Mediterranean Sea and in inland waters

Titles required

To earn a 2nd class recreational boating officer’s certificate, you need these requirements:

– 18 years of age;

– secondary school diploma or a foreign degree recognized or declared equivalent;

– Short Range Operator Certificate (SRC);

1. – Have successfully completed the following courses:
2. – Basic firefighting at institutions, agencies or companies recognized as suitable by the Administration
3. –“First Aid“ medicalfirst aid;

– survival and rescue, personal safety and social responsibility (PSSR), or, as an alternative to the above courses, a personal safety course for offshore navigation organized by sports federations that are members of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), national recreational associations, and institutes, bodies or companies recognized as suitable by the Administration in accordance with the program established by decree of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport;

– Possess the psychophysical requirements necessary to obtain a category B boating license;

– Meet the moral requirements for obtaining and validating nautical licenses;

– Have successfully taken a theoretical and practical examination

Examination evidence

The examination tests consist of an interview designed to ascertain knowledge of the topics provided for in the ministerial program (see table) and a practical test in maritime waters on a naval unit not less than 15 meters in length. The examination is held at the maritime compartment offices, according to the schedule, at least every six months, published from time to time on the offices’ institutional website.

Exempt from theory examination

Within 36 months of the entry into force of the decree that defined programs and examination methods of the professional title of 2nd class recreational navigation officer (i.e., by May 20, 2027), holders for at least 10 years of a category A nautical license with the ability to navigate without any limitation of distance from the coast may obtain the professional title of 2nd class recreational navigation officer with exemption from taking the theory test under the following conditions:

– Age not less than 50 years;

– registered for a total period of at least 10 years in the business register or in the REA of a Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Handicrafts and Agriculture with ATECO code 50.10 (rental of pleasure craft with crew excluding scheduled transport) or 77.21.02 (rental of pleasure craft without crew) or 74.90.9 (other professional, scientific and technical activities), or if they have entered into one or more contracts of employment or coordinated and continuous collaboration with companies that rent or lease pleasure craft for a total period of at least 10 years.

In this regard, it is interesting to note that the rule stipulates that in order to prove the type of work performed, the principle “of the prevalence of the substantive consistency of the manner in which the employment relationship is carried out over the formal qualification given by the parties” must be applied. That is, the manner in which the work was actually carried out counts over the formal qualification (contract, if any) signed between the parties.

Exempt from practical test

They are exempt from taking the practical test:

– seafarers holding the professional titles of chief boat for in-state traffic, chief boat for local traffic and chief boat for inshore fishing provided they have a valid navigation record book;

– seafarers holding the professional inland navigation titles of captain and chief helmsman even if they lack the “authorized” title, provided they have a valid navigation record book;

– seafarers holding the maritime professional title of boatmaster for pleasure craft for hire.

Achieve the title without examinations

They can earn the title without examinations:

– Holders for at least 3 years of a valid category B recreational vessel license, subject to holding the Gmdss Short Range Operator’s Certificate (SRC) and having passed the required courses for 2nd class recreational boating officer;

– seafarers with the following certificates: deck officer, first mate on ships of 3,000 GT and above, first mate on ships of 500 to 3,000 GT and above, master on ships of 3,000 GT and above, master on ships of 500 to 3,000 GT and below, deck officer on ships of less than 500 GT making coastal voyages, and master on ships of less than 500 GT making coastal voyages provided they have a valid certificate of competency and sailing record;

– seafarer members with the following certificates of competency of the boating section of the deck: boating officer of the boating section, captain of the boating section, and master of the boating section provided they have a valid certificate of competency and sailing record book.