Are you butt hurt about STCW or something?
Look up IMO, STCW, Pleasure Yachts and see for yourself.
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As far as Iâm aware you donât even need a license to run a private vessel as long as the insurance company is ok with it. As long as youâre not running commercial (carrying cargo or passengers) thereâs no license requirement of any kind so being hired to drive a rich guyâs private boat doesnât legally require any licensing.
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Depends on flag state and vessel size. The number of US flagged large yachts is microscopic for most of the same reasons we have so few American flagged deep sea ships. There are many ârich guys private boatsâ that operate around the world and nearly all of them are used to some degree for charter when the owner is not onboard ⌠which is most of the time.
The MCA yacht codes apply to âred ensignâ flagged yachts and are almost universally used as the model for large yachts flagged by other states. A large yacht is defined as 24m and above in length.
There is no single regulation or statement that defines who needs what paper to operate a âyachtâ regardless of ownership or use.
Probably. Iâm sure thereâs some regulation in the US that requires any vessel over a certain size to be inspected as a commercial vessel even if itâs for personal use only. I donât think weâre discussing people who run anything that large though so it wasnât worth considering to me.
As I recall, and my recollection is dated, US flag private yachts 300 GRT and up require a USCG licensed captain.
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