RYA Master of Yacht 200 vs MCA Master of yacht 200

penfold

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The MCA are much better at helping themselves to your cash? I don't know what they do with it all, they certainly don't spend it on people waiting to answer phone enquirys about arcane MGNs.
 

Roberto

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sorry it wasn't my intention to ask "which is best", my questions are limited to:

Do the two certificates (RYA's and MCA's) offer equivalent commercial privileges for boats say under 20m (I read here and there that one allows up to 24m and <200t, the other just <200 so ok for >24m..., a bit confusing, I am only interested in smaller boats, say up to 20m)

If so, would it be correct to say that the MCA Master 200 is essentially aimed at people that want to continue their career with higher grade certificates, 500, 3000 tons etc which I think are only awarded by the MCA to people having the MCA 200t certificate beforehand ?


thanks
 

alant

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sorry it wasn't my intention to ask "which is best", my questions are limited to:

Do the two certificates (RYA's and MCA's) offer equivalent commercial privileges for boats say under 20m (I read here and there that one allows up to 24m and <200t, the other just <200 so ok for >24m..., a bit confusing, I am only interested in smaller boats, say up to 20m)

If so, would it be correct to say that the MCA Master 200 is essentially aimed at people that want to continue their career with higher grade certificates, 500, 3000 tons etc which I think are only awarded by the MCA to people having the MCA 200t certificate beforehand ?


thanks

If you want to continue to 500/3000 tons, then an MCA 200, is a requirement. RYA Master 200 will not do.
 

Simondjuk

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The 24 metre limitation does not apply to commercially endorsed Yachtmaster Offshore or Yachtmaster Ocean certificates. It does apply to the lower certificates of competence.
 

andylink

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If you want to continue to 500/3000 tons, then an MCA 200, is a requirement. RYA Master 200 will not do.

The Master 200gt is designed as a bridging qualification between the RYA Yachtmaster and MCA Deck Officer qualifications. It is not a compulsary ticket and is voluntary. People take it mainly because some foreign states will not accept the Yachtmaster mainly due to no mention of STCW, yes I know you can now STCW endorse your Yachtmaster but some still don't accept it for one reason or another.

Many small commercial boat operators are now insisting on MCA 200gt for their skippers. I have been offered a skippers position on a DNV class 20m new build Wind Farm Support Catamaran on the proviso that I complete the MCA 200 before my start date.

Also there is no route from MCA Master 200gt to 500 or 3000gt. Holders of the 200gt will still need to pass through the OOW certificates and sea time while holding those certs before being eligible for the 500/300gt masters.
 

ARO

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What is the difference between the two ?

?

The RYA Yachtmaster gives you the same rights on a British flagged vessel in UK waters as the MCA Master Code Vessels 200 gt with one little exeption: The Yachtmaster is not valid to act as a mate on yachts > 200 > 500 gt more than 150 miles from a save haven (sea area 0).

The MCA Master is a full STCW95 CoC endorsed STCW II/2 (management level) while the Yachtmaster "STCW" endorsement just confirms that the holder has done the STCW basic safety courses. This makes a great difference when dealing with foreign government oficials eg. port state controls.

It appears to me, that the job markets really likes the MCA CoC.

To climb up the MCA ladder you need just Yachtmaster. The MCA Master Code Vessels 200 gt is a dead end road.
 

alant

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The RYA Yachtmaster gives you the same rights on a British flagged vessel in UK waters as the MCA Master Code Vessels 200 gt with one little exeption: The Yachtmaster is not valid to act as a mate on yachts > 200 > 500 gt more than 150 miles from a save haven (sea area 0).

The MCA Master is a full STCW95 CoC endorsed STCW II/2 (management level) while the Yachtmaster "STCW" endorsement just confirms that the holder has done the STCW basic safety courses. This makes a great difference when dealing with foreign government oficials eg. port state controls.

It appears to me, that the job markets really likes the MCA CoC.

To climb up the MCA ladder you need just Yachtmaster. The MCA Master Code Vessels 200 gt is a dead end road.

Whats the "full STCW95" as compared with "STCW basic safety courses"?

Surely STCW95 is the same, regardless!
 

The engineer

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It is as stated an STCW95 compliant Yachtmaster. I had my yachtmaster endorsed as master of yachts 200 last time my commercial endorsement came up for renewal. I just had to provide all my basic training certs.
 

ARO

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Whats the "full STCW95" as compared with "STCW basic safety courses"?

Surely STCW95 is the same, regardless!

STWC95 is much more than just the basic training. It stands for "Standard of training, certification and watchkeeping" and regulates all the qualifications for professional seafarers as a world-wide minimum standard.

The basic safety training STCW code A-VI/1-1 to A-VI/1-4 is the very basic qualification everyone aboard must have, even to clean the floors of a cruise ship. This does NOT change a Yachtmaster cert into a STCW CoC.

STCW qualifications for officers are described in code A-II. This a totally different animal than the basic safety courses.

A-II/1 is operational level (mate)
A-II/2 is management level (master, chief mate)
A-II/3 is coastal voyages only (master and mates near coastal)
A-II/4 is part of a navigational watch (ordinary and able seamen)

A-III is engineers

A-IV is basic qualifications like basic safety training, medical care, operator certificates and so on.

RYA Yachtmaster certs are endorsed STCW A-IV/1-4
MCA Master Code Vessels are endorsed STCW A-II/2

which is obviously not the same.
 

Roberto

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To go a little bit more in detail, my idea would be to be self-employed on my future sailboat, size surely a lot under 200t.
It would be mostly outside of UK waters, probably on a foreign flagged boat (that will bring a future question :) )

This means that from my personal point of view I am not interested in obtaining higher certificates (500, 3000 etc), nor in what potential employers or crewing agencies might prefer; from the answers above, the main concern seem to be:

Do Foreign Flag authorities accept the STCW RYA MoY200 or do they require the STCW MCA MoY200 ?
From the inquiries I have made abroad, a recurrent reply is "A foreign certificate is accepted provided it is STCW certified by the issuing State": can both the STCW RYA MoY200 and the STCW MCA MoY200 be considered "STCW certified by the issuing State"?

The problem is if I ask "RYA or MCA" they would not answer directly, they say "Make a formal conversion demand attaching the certificate you have, a commission will meet in a xxx days and you'll get an answer" ):
 

The engineer

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As you hint it depends on the flag state.
Red flag for a yacht requires commercial yachtmaster. To avoid any risk of hassle a master of yachts 200 may be helpful. to satisfy a jobsworth but extremely unlikely.
 
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