Passenger Boat Coding
All UK owned Small Commercial Vessels must comply with the relevant Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) Codes of Practice. Passenger boats are to be issued with certificates by an Authorised Certifying Authority. McCollam Marine are an Authorised Surveyor for carrying out these passenger boat coding inspections and completion of the necessary paperwork for the YDSA, YBDSA and Mecal.
A Small Commercial Vessel is defined as “a vessel in commercial use that:
- Is up to 24 metres load line length.
- Carries no more than 12 passengers (i.e. excluding crew)
Does my Vessel need to be Coded?
If you wish to charter your boat or use it commercially, you must comply with the Codes of Practice. This includes occasional commercial use as well as permanent use and also includes boats such as sport fishing boats, RIBs used for rides for the public, boats taking workers out to wind farms and oil rigs, etc.
There are many different Codes of Practice that cover:
- Sailing charter vessels, including skippered and bareboat.
- Motor charter vessels, including angling and dive boats.
- RIBs operating commercially.
- Workboats.
- Pilot Boats.
- Hovercraft.
You will need to use an Authorised Coding Surveyor such as McCollam Marine to perform an initial Compliance Examination. Along with the appropriate paperwork, this starts a certification cycle lasting five years.
Contact Us to discuss any of your coding requirements.
