Superyacht Crew Documents: Seaman Book, ENG1 & STCW Explained

Superyacht Crew Documents 2026: The Complete Checklist

Walk the docks in Antibes or Palma without the right paperwork and you will get the same answer at every Passarella: come back when you’re sorted. Crew agencies do not register candidates on potential. They register them on superyacht crew documents — and they verify every one.

The frustrating part is that nobody hands you the list. You piece it together from forum threads, a captain’s offhand comment and a training centre’s sales page — and the list you end up with is usually missing the one item that matters most in five years’ time.

This guide sets out the superyacht crew documents you actually need in 2026: the ENG1 medical, STCW basic safety training, and the flag state seaman book that turns your sea time into something you can bank. It also covers the Red Ensign question honestly, because that is where most general guides quietly mislead people.

What documents do superyacht crew need?

Superyacht crew need four core documents: an ENG1 seafarer medical certificate, STCW basic safety training (the four modules under STCW Code Table A-VI/1), a flag state seaman book recording identity and sea service, and a valid passport with the right visas for the yacht’s cruising grounds. Interior and galley crew usually add a food safety qualification.

That is the entry set. Deck and engineering crew then build certificates of competency on top of it.

The document set, in the order crew agencies ask for it

1. ENG1 medical certificate

The ENG1 is the seafarer medical certificate issued under the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency framework — the body responsible for “the safety and quality of ships and welfare, certification and training of seafarers operating under the Red Ensign.” It has become the de facto medical standard across the yachting industry, requested well beyond UK-flagged vessels.

Treat it as a hiring gate rather than a compliance item. Most reputable crew agencies will not put you forward without a current ENG1, and many will not complete your registration file at all. It is examined by an approved doctor and, in line with the STCW medical fitness standard, generally runs to a maximum of two years (one year for seafarers under 18).

One point that catches green crew: an ENG1 can be issued as fit or with restrictions, and a restricted certificate can quietly narrow which yachts will take you. Ask the doctor to explain any restriction before you leave the room.

Seamanbooks.com arranges ENG1 medicals as part of the crew document package, so you are not chasing an approved doctor in an unfamiliar country days before a season starts.

2. STCW basic safety training

Mandatory, non-negotiable, and the same core package the commercial fleet uses. Four modules sit under STCW Code Table A-VI/1:

Most yachts over 24 metres also expect Proficiency in Designated Security Duties (PDSD) or, at minimum, Security Awareness under STCW Regulation VI/6, because the yacht operates under the ISPS Code.

The 2010 Manila amendments, in force since 1 January 2012, require refresher training every five years for the survival and firefighting competences. Diarise it. A lapsed refresher ends a season as effectively as no certificate at all. Our STCW certification guide covers the full module list and course formats.

3. Seaman book (SIRB / CDC)

The document green crew most often skip — and the one they most often regret skipping. More on why in the next section.

Your seaman book is the official record of your identity and your sea service. Every rotation is endorsed in it: vessel, dates on and off, rank. Read the background in our pillar guide, what a seaman book is and why every seafarer needs one.

4. Food safety, and the interior-specific extras

If you are stewardess, chef or galley crew, add a food safety / food hygiene qualification — commonly Level 2 in the UK system. Some yachts also want a basic wine or silver service certificate, but those are employability, not compliance.

5. Passport and visas

A B1/B2 visa for the United States if the yacht yards or cruises there, and Schengen coverage for a Mediterranean season if your nationality requires it. Check passport validity too: many flag states and charter itineraries expect at least six months beyond your contract.

Why your seaman book matters more on a yacht than you think

Here is the part nobody tells green crew.

On a commercial ship, sea service documentation is administered for you. On a yacht — especially a private, non-charter yacht with a small crew and an informal office — it often is not. Plenty of crew do two or three seasons, then apply for their first certificate of competency and discover they cannot prove any of it.

Your seaman book is the mechanism that makes sea time bankable. Properly endorsed entries are the evidence you present when you apply for an OOW ticket, an engineering certificate, or any role with a sea-service prerequisite. Without them you are relying on a former captain answering an email about a season three years ago — and captains move on.

Two practical rules follow:

• Get the book before your first rotation, not after. A book obtained later cannot retroactively certify sea time you did not record.
• Get every rotation endorsed before you leave the boat. Chasing a signature after you have signed off is significantly harder than getting it on the day.

If you are moving between yachting and commercial work — a cruise contract over the off-season is common — the same book carries across. See our guide to seaman book and STCW requirements for cruise ship staff ( publication — D13).

The Red Ensign question, answered honestly

Superyachting is dominated by the Red Ensign Group, which comprises 13 registries: Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and the UK in Category 1, and Anguilla, the Falkland Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Montserrat, St Helena and the Turks & Caicos Islands in Category 2. Together they represent the world’s ninth largest fleet.

If you work in yachting, you will meet these flags constantly — most large charter yachts fly one. So it is worth being clear about what that does and does not mean for your personal documents:

• Red Ensign registries certify the yacht and issue certificates of competency. That is where MCA and REG involvement is strongest — your OOW, Yacht master or engineering ticket.
• They are not a general-purpose source of a personal record book for crew of any nationality. Open registries such as Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis and the Bahamas are, which is why a large share of internationally recruited yacht crew carry an open-registry seaman book alongside their MCA-route certificates.
• Acceptance is set by the yacht, its flag and its management company — not by a general rule. Always confirm in writing with the captain or the management office before you commit to a registry.

We are straight about this because the alternative costs crew money. If a yacht’s flag or management specifically requires a document we do not issue, we will tell you rather than sell you a book that will not serve.