The PYA is authorised by the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) and by Transport Malta to verify yacht sea service testimonials for all yacht crew worldwide.
When progressing your yachting career – whether it be sitting or re-validating tickets, obtaining a Notice of Eligibility (NoE), revalidating a Certificate of Competency (CoC) or moving to a more senior position on board, you need to be able to show an accurate and VERIFIED record of your time at sea. This means that somebody has confirmed (verified) with your previous Master/Captain, management company or owner that the sea time you have claimed has in fact been completed as per the official definitions of sea service in yachts.
The PYA is authorised by the MCA by MIN 543 and by Transport Malta, to verify yacht sea service and has been verifying yacht sea service for the MCA since 1994 - no other organisation has this track record. Your yacht sea time (both present and retrospective experience) will be carefully checked and approved before being verified by the PYA. Having testimonials verified by PYA will avoid the significant delays in issuing a Notice of Eligibility (NoE) which the MCA has said will ensue if they receive non-verified yacht sea service testimonials.
You have two options for verification of yacht and sea service:
1. PYA Membership
- You can become a member online through our site. Register now.
- Full membership costs €185 per year.
As a full member, you will get our PYA Digital Service Record Book (D-SRB), which you can send to the MCA to get fast-tracked when applying for an NOE. We will process as many yacht sea service testimonials and certificates as you wish while being a full member. Additional benefits include: up-to-date information, personalized advice and career guidance, invitations to our own or partners’ events, free workshops, webinars, and, other special offers.
For the FAQ on the D-SRB click here.
Set up your member's area:
When you become a PYA member, you can UPLOAD the following documents to your member’s area (which you will have once you become a member):
- 1 passport size photo (necessary)
This photo must be saved as a JPG.
- Certified copy of your passport or identity card (necessary)
- Certified copies of your STCW certificates (optional)
NOTE: If you cannot have your passport and certificates certified as true copies by a captain, one of our agents, or a training school, port authorities or police, etc then you may make an appointment and come to our office to show the originals. Certificates are optional, you may choose not to have us record any certificates if that is inconvenient for you at any point. Please note: The MCA will still ask to see your certificates (copies or originals) even if they are recorded in your D-SRB.
- Testimonials showing your sea service on yachts
You may upload simple copies of your testimonials in pdf format. They must be signed as per MIN 543 and contain the signatory's email address so that we can contact them for verification.
You can find the testimonial forms for all capacities here.
2. Non-Membership
You can still get your yacht sea service testimonials verified with the PYA without becoming a member. As a non-member, you will not receive a Digital Service Record Book (D-SRB). You will receive a copy of your testimonial digitally signed by the PYA.
- The cost is €50 per testimonial, with a minimum of 2 testimonials = €100 minimum.
You will need to UPLOAD to your PYA profile online:
- A certified copy of your passport
- Testimonials showing your sea service on yachts. You may upload simple copies of your testimonials in pdf format. They must be signed as per MIN 543 and contain the signatory's email address so that we can contact them for verification.
You can apply and pay online for either option.
You can find the testimonial forms for all capacities here.
When you register with us and submit your testimonials for your service on board yachts, your file goes in the queue for verification. Once your file comes to the sea service verification team, your paperwork is checked for any inconsistencies, missing info, or errors. If your testimonials are duly filled in and signed, an email for verification of your sea time is sent to the signatory.
NB: please always UPLOAD your testimonials on your PYA profile online, that's the fastest and safest way to submit them to us.
N.B.: In some cases, the testimonials submitted are illegible, email addresses and names of signatories are missing, signatures are missing, dates are missing, there are testimonials with overlapping dates, and so on. If that happens, then we must contact you to sort this out and your file will go in pending, waiting for your reply.
After we've received replies for all the testimonials, they are presented to an SRB Officer for review and signatures. Sometimes the information is rejected by the SRB Officer and we must ask you for more information to have the entry approved, or have the testimonial amended.
N.B.: When we do not receive a reply from a signatory confirming the sea service, we cannot proceed, so it is advisable that you check with the signatories of your testimonials that they have received our email.
You can check the status of your testimonials in your profile online. Testimonials for which we have received replies will have a green 'tick' next to them.
Once all details have been approved by the SRB officer, your testimonials will appear as VERIFIED on your online profile and your Digital SRB will be created online. You will receive a notification that your D-SRB is ready to be downloaded. For non-members: you will receive a notification that your testimonial has been digitally signed and ready to be downloaded and it will appear as such on your profile.
N.B.: If you are applying to the MCA, you will need to download and send your D-SRB or digitally signed testimonials to the MCA BY EMAIL, irrespective of what you are applying for. Printed D-SRB and/or digitally signed testimonials do not show the digital signature/stamp and the MCA will not accept them.
The Digital Service Record Book issuance/update or verification of individual testimonials can take up to 25 working days depending on the quality of your documents, the response of the signatories, and our workload.
For further information and a step-by-step guide click here, for forms click here, for the FAQ on the D-SRB click here and if you have more questions click here.
Last update: 25-05-2022