Bigger superyachts result in more business for crew trainers

More yacht officers than ever before are upgrading their yacht restricted certificates of competency to full ‘Unlimited’ merchant navy qualifications, resulting in increased bookings due to the bulging size of superyachts, according to yacht crew trainers.

If yacht officers hold a restricted certificate of competency such as the officer of the watch or chief mate (Yachts, less Than 3,000GT), industry leaders are saying this will hinder their job prospects due to the increasing demand for 3000GT+ yachts.

Lars Lippuner, director at Warsash Superyacht Academy commented, “We see many yacht officers returning to ‘upgrade’ their yacht restricted certificates of competency to full ‘Unlimited’ merchant navy qualifications, a demand driven by the increase in the number of yachts above 3,000GT and yachts coded to the Passenger Yacht code, which all require officers with unlimited certification.”

This growth would have been evident at one of last year’s most prestigious yachting events, the Monaco Yacht Show. Visitors would have seen the average length of the boats on show was 47m, 15m bigger when comparing it to the to 32m average when the event first started.

The increase in both the number and size of yachts has also meant more crew course bookings in general with Warsash reporting ‘big year-on-year increases in the numbers of students of up to 50%.’ This is because quite simply there are more yachts to look after, requiring more crew.

Lars finished by saying, “Up-skilling from crew to officers’ rank, and from restricted to unrestricted officers’ qualifications continue to be factors that drive increased yacht sector demand for maritime education and training.”

For further information about the types of crew training available see one of Yachting Pages Media Group’s yacht crew guides.