coding in greece

[benlui]

Where could one find details of the coding requirements for a (Greek) charter yacht in Greece?
The Greek officials are pretty relaxed with this kind of thing, and tend to stress more over more trivial and pointless things.
But i find that some charter boats don't even have serviced life rafts, let alone EPIRB's or other safety equipment. Surely there is a minimum standard in Greece also, giving that its part of the EU, (for now at least)

 

[duncan99210]

Try reposting this on the liveaboard forum, as there are some folks over there who may well know the answer, including some Greeks.

 

[Tranona]

You will find what you want on www.hpyoa.gr which is the Helenic Professional Yacht Owners Association. You may need to get a password to find the details. The site is in English.

There is a coding standard for charter yachts, not dissimilar from the MCA Code but with a few little quirks. In theory you cannot get a charter licence without confirmation that the boat meets the code. However, as with most things in Greece, enforcement is patchy, particularly between inspections! The most annoying thing is that there is a virtual monopoly on things like liferaft servicing and annual servicing of EPIRB, but self inflating life jackets are not permitted!

Most boats are under the Greek flag, but it is possible to get a licence for a UK flagged boat, and it then has to comply with both MCA and Greek!

BTW, nothing to do with EU, there are no standards across the EU, they come under the flag state under which the boat is registered, or as in the case of Greece where the licence is issued.

 

[Melody]

All Greek charter yachts are inspected every couple of years and there are quite strict standards, although some are slightly different from UK charter boats.

New regulations were brought in covering GMDSS radio and EPIRBs a couple of years ago and there was a period during which yachts were given a dispensation before it became compulsory to have these but I'm pretty sure it is fully in force now. GMDSS radios must also have an independent battery from the yacht's batteries.

All Greek charter yachts must carry a liferaft which must be serviced annually and the certificate for this, along with the annual fire extinguisher service, proof of commercial insurance etc must be in the boat's papers as these are inspected by the port police at any time.

If you are on a boat that does not have these ask the owner why and speak to the port police if you don't get a satisfactory answer.

As mentioned, you won't find inflatable lifejackets, only the permanently inflated ones, on most charter yachts.