The Expired Medical Certificate and the 12-Mile Licence
You are the skipper of a 16.8 m pot-fishing vessel with six crew, planning a 36-hour trip to grounds 28 nm offshore. At 04:20, before departure, you find that one deckhand's medical fitness certificate expired 11 days ago; he is otherwise experienced and asymptomatic. Another deckhand holds a certificate endorsed 'not to be left on watch alone.' The vessel's fishing licence carries an endorsement limiting it to 12 nm from the coast. The rest-hour log for the previous 24 hours shows 4 h 40 min of rest for the engineer, because of bait preparation. The owner says the weather window closes in 30 hours and that 'the paperwork can be sorted when we return.' A port-state control inspection is expected in three days. The tide and weather are suitable for departure at 06:00.
1. Which elements of this departure are legally non-compliant, and which can be cured before 06:00? Give your reasoning, not just a list.
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The starting point is that the master's duty to ensure the vessel is seaworthy, properly manned and fit for the intended voyage is personal and cannot be transferred to the owner. I would separate the issues:
- Expired medical certificate. Under the flag State's implementation of ILO Work in Fishing Convention 188 and national fishing-vessel rules, each crew member must hold a valid medical fitness certificate. An expired certificate is not a document that can be 'sorted later'; it goes to fitness for duty, insurance and port-State control. It can be cured before 06:00 only by replacing the deckhand with a certificated person or, if the flag State permits, obtaining a valid certificate through an approved medical examiner - unlikely at 04:20. A telephone assurance from a doctor is not a certificate.
- Restricted certificate. The endorsement 'not to be left on watch alone' is a condition of the certificate, not a suggestion. It can be cured by a watch bill that pairs that person with a certificated watchkeeper for every watch. That is a real control, not paperwork, and must be written into the schedule.
- Licence limit. The 12 nm endorsement is a condition of the fishing licence. A voyage to 28 nm is outside it. This cannot be cured by the owner's assurance; it requires a licence variation or a different vessel. If the variation is not in hand before departure, the voyage is unlawful regardless of the weather window.
- Rest hours. 4 h 40 min rest in 24 hours for the engineer is below normal fishing/STCW fatigue thresholds (typically 10 hours rest in 24 and 77 hours in 7 days, subject to flag rules). It can be partly cured by delaying departure, but only if the engineer actually gets the missing rest and the watch bill is rebuilt.
My decision would therefore be: no departure at 06:00. The licence limit alone is a hard stop; the medical certificate is a second hard stop. I would offer the owner a compliant plan: replace the deckhand, pair the restricted watchkeeper, obtain the licence variation, and delay until the engineer has had at least 10 hours rest. I would record the refusal and the reasons.
2. The owner argues that the expired medical certificate is a minor administrative matter. How would you assess the risk and what would you tell him? Include the possible consequences for you as master.
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An expired medical certificate is not a minor administrative matter because it is evidence that the holder met a minimum fitness standard at a point in time. The risk is not only the 11-day gap; it is that the certificate may have been issued subject to a condition, or that the holder's health has changed. For a deckhand on a 36-hour trip, the practical questions are: can he perform heavy deck work, survive immersion, and be evacuated if injured? If the answer is unknown, the risk is unquantified.
The consequences for me as master are concrete: port-State control can detain the vessel, the flag State can take action against my certificate, the insurer can argue the vessel was not seaworthy or not properly manned, and a crew injury would be investigated against my decision. The owner's commercial pressure is not a defence. I would tell him: 'I will not sail with an expired certificate. I can sail at 12:00 if you replace him, or at 06:00 tomorrow if the doctor can issue a valid certificate today. I will put the refusal and your instruction in the log.' If he insists, I would ask for the instruction in writing and notify the flag or port authority if there is time.
3. Write the decision you record in the official log and the key points of your handover to the owner.
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Log entry (example): '04:20 - Pre-departure checks. Deckhand A medical certificate expired 11 days ago. Deckhand B certificate endorsed not to be left on watch alone. Fishing licence endorsed 12 nm; intended grounds 28 nm. Engineer rest 4 h 40 min in previous 24 h. Owner advised by telephone at 04:35 and instructed to sail, stating paperwork can be sorted later. I declined departure. Vessel remains in port. Actions: owner to source replacement deckhand and licence variation; watch bill to pair Deckhand B; engineer to rest. Review at 12:00.'
Handover points: the three hard stops, what has been fixed, who is doing it, the latest time the tide and weather window allows, and the fact that the decision is mine until the deficiencies are closed. I would also note the owner's instruction verbatim, because if there is an accident the log is the contemporaneous record. I would not write 'owner agreed' if he did not.