Maritime Law, Regulations and Skipper Responsibilities
The legal domain tests the Greek and international rules that frame a skipper's authority: the Code of Public Maritime Law, the role of the port authority (Λιμεναρχείο), documents that must be on board, reporting duties after a casualty, the duty to render assistance, and pollution and local port regulations.
The legal framework
Legislative Decree 187/1973 (Κώδικας Δημοσίου Ναυτικού Δικαίου) is the backbone of Greek public maritime law, enforced by the Hellenic Coast Guard through the local port authority. Offences may be pursued administratively (fines, licence suspension) and criminally at the same time. Category A is the professional grade of skipper licence; keep the certificate, the medical certificate and the logbook current.
Documents to carry
Certificate of registry or nationality, skipper's licence, evidence of third-party liability insurance, radio licence, crew list where required, and the charter or employment agreement when the vessel is trading. The logbook records position, course, weather, crew changes and any incident.
Master's duties
SOLAS V/33 and UNCLOS Article 98 require you to proceed to the assistance of persons in distress at sea whenever you can do so without serious danger to your own ship and those on board. After a collision you must stand by, exchange details and give assistance. Marine casualties - collision, grounding, injury, pollution, loss of a person - must be reported to the nearest port authority at once by the quickest means, followed by a written report, whatever the size of the damage.
Pollution and local rules
MARPOL Annex I bans oil discharge; Annex V bans plastics overboard entirely, with food waste limits by distance from land; Annex IV covers sewage and using reception facilities. Report any spill immediately. Port regulations (Κανονισμός Λιμένος) and beach rules set speed and wash limits; keep well clear of swimming areas, which are buoyed. Greek territorial sea is 6 nm, extended to 12 nm in the Ionian since 2021.
Worked example
Entering a harbour at night you touch a moored yacht and damage her pulpit; nobody is hurt. Reasoning: you may not simply leave. Stop and make sure both vessels are safe, exchange names, addresses and insurance details, and report to the port authority immediately - the contact is a reportable casualty, and departure without reporting is a separate offence. Enter time, position, witnesses and damage in the logbook and notify your insurer.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating a low-speed contact as "nothing happened" and leaving.
- Assuming a foreign flag exempts you from Greek port regulations.
- Reporting only to the insurer instead of the port authority.
- Forgetting the logbook entry, which is often the key evidence.
- Believing the duty to assist ends when it becomes inconvenient rather than genuinely dangerous.