Service Record Book

MCA approved SERVICE RECORD BOOK – available free to PYA members

In all MCA applications, you are required to show documentary proof of sea service in an MCA approved log book or certificates of discharge. As part of your membership package* you will be issued with a Service Record Book which meets these requirements and you will need to produce it at MCA oral examinations. It can also be used in the same way as a seaman’s book to obtain seamen’s discounts on air flights, additional baggage allowance, and also to obtain Visas and for presentation at job interviews as a work record.

An application for a Service Record Book (commonly known as an SRB) should be accompanied by:

1. 2 passport photos – one for your SRB and one for the office file (and 1 by email in jpg format for your membership card.
2. Good quality photocopies of any certificates or qualifications that you wish to be recorded in your SRB. Any qualifications which are relevant to your career in the professional yachting industry can be entered – from Diving to Interior Crew training as well as the modules and courses which lead to Certificates of Competency. Translations into English are required if these are not provided in the certificates.
3. A current CV.
4. A copy of your passport.

On receipt of a request for an SRB, there is a 2-stage process.

1. The PYA office issues the SRB by entering the personal details and certificates which are then checked, sighted and signed by our SRB Officer. Only the PYA office makes entries in the Qualifications of Holder section because there is a standard procedure for entries.
2. Sea time testimonials are submitted (preferably in PYA format – available to members on the download page). The PYA then checks the seatime and enters it in the Experience at sea section, verifies the information and it is sighted, signed and stamp by our SRB Officer.
3. It is advisable to submit your SRB at regular intervals to be updated, e.g at the end of each season or year, or when you change yachts. Ensure that you receive a testimonial on leaving a vessel.
4. There are many queries about this so here is some clarification.
   1. i. All experience at sea may be recorded even if it is not possible to verify and validate the entry. Remember that besides being documentary proof of your sea time required by the authorities, it is also your own personal record.
   2. Service Definitions as written in the MSN1802:
      • Onboard Yacht Service is the time spent signed on a yacht i.e. length of employment.
      • Actual Sea Service is any day that the vessel leaves the port, is underway or at anchor.
      • Stand-by Service is time spent moored fully crewed, victualled, fuelled and waiting for the owner or charter guest.
      • Yard Service is time when standing by a build, refit or repair.
      • Sea Service includes a combination of Actual Sea Service, Stand-by Service and/or Yard Service.
      • Watchkeeping Service is Actual Sea Service spent as a Watchkeeper Officer in full charge of a navigational watch for not less that eight out of every 24 hours whilst the vessel is underway.
      • For calculation purposes, there are 30 days in a month.
   3. Sea time should be recorded in blocks which cover a season, a year or the complete period of employment with a yacht. There have been several instances where a member has treated his SRB like a ship’s log and recorded every trip out of port thus filling up the whole book too quickly. The SRB is intended to last a lifetime and is not a ship’s log.
   4. The PYA introduced its own version of Sea Service Testimonials for Deck and Engineer officers based on the MCA pro forma but which also includes a contacts section so that sea time can be verified. Each entry that you wish to be verified must be accompanied by a sea service testimonial with contact details. This is usually done by fax or email and by phone if local and occasionally if within Europe. SATCOM is avoided because of the expense. The same information on letter headed paper with the boat stamp is accepted providing it contains the same information as requested on the testimonial form.
   5. v. Testimonials forms can be obtained from the PYA Office or downloaded from this website on the download page.
   6. vi. Please ensure that all the information on the testimonials corresponds exactly with what
      is written in the SRB.

Please note: The Service Record Book is only available to PYA members and cannot be bought independently.

For any enquiries about Service Record Books, please send an email to srb@pya.org

*Nautilus membership package does not include a SRB but they can obtain one for 50 euros if required.