New Passenger Yacht Code
05/08/2010
The British Red Ensign Group (REG) has come a step closer to establishing a new international code aimed at the needs and requirements of superyachts carrying more than 12, but less than 36 passengers.
The Code has now reached an advanced stage of development and the current draft (i.e. Passenger Yacht Code – Distribution Version 3) (PYC – DV3) is now available.
The Code has been developed to address the difficulties in applying some of the international Convention standards (in particular the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and the Load Line Convention), which were designed for “merchant” ships, to the present day “super yacht”. The Code in no way dilutes Convention standards but provides equivalent standards and arrangements, where appropriate, aimed at addressing in a pragmatic and practical way the challenges imposed by the design operation and usage off today’s large yachts. The Code provides standards for both privately operated and commercially operated yachts.
After further industry consultation it is expected that the Code will be published by the REG and lodged, by the UK on behalf of the REG, with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by November of this year as the “official” REG wide equivalent for this type of vessel.
By way of comparison the PYC may be viewed as a natural progression, although philosophically very different, from the very successful UK “Large Yacht Code” which sets out standards for commercial yachts over 24m, less than 3000gt and carrying not more than 12 passengers – this is being revised over the next few months.
Greg Evans, Director-Global Safety & Compliance, Cayman Islands Shipping Registry commented:
“The Code has been developed in response to industry’s desire to have a single reference document for the construction and operation of large passenger yachts and represents a collaborative effort amongst members of the Red Ensign Group who collectively have a significant amount of experience in the very large yacht market. We are very excited by this development which represents some 3 years work to develop a pragmatic approach to an emerging demand for larger yachts, but ensures the highest safety standards are maintained for which the “Red Ensign” is well known.”