Planning and procedures
Governing: STCW Table A-II/2 'task and workload management', 'effective resource management' and 'development, implementation, and oversight of standard operating procedures'; REG Yacht Code Part A Chapters 23A and 23B.
Planning at management level
| Horizon | Chief officer / chief engineer | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Day | Work lists, rotas, guest programme | Itinerary, weather, owner liaison |
| Voyage | Passage and port plans, stores, crew rest | Approval, risk, contingency |
| Season | Maintenance plan, training, drills, leave | Budget, crewing, charter calendar |
| Refit | Work scope, yard liaison, crew tasks | Contract, cost, quality |
A-II/2 lists the same four elements as the operational level (planning and co-ordination, personnel assignment, time and resource constraints, prioritisation), but now applied to a department over weeks and months.
Resource management
Resources are people, equipment, time and money. Management-level resource management means:
- people: crewing levels that meet safe manning and allow rest; skills mix; cover for leave and sickness;
- equipment: maintenance timed around operations, spares, redundancy for critical systems;
- time: realistic programmes with contingency;
- money: making the case to the captain and management company for what safety requires.
The criterion is that operations are planned and resources allocated in correct priority.
Rotas and rest
Rotas must deliver the minimum rest in MSN 1877 (10 hours in any 24, 77 in any 7) through charter, yard and delivery periods. If they cannot, the plan is wrong. Records must be accurate.
SOPs
A-II/2 adds development, implementation and oversight of standard operating procedures. On commercial yachts they sit inside the safety management system:
| Yacht | REG Yacht Code Part A |
|---|---|
| Under 500 GT | Chapter 23A: a safety management system as described in the chapter |
| 500 GT and over | Chapter 23B: comply with SOLAS IX (the ISM Code) |
Good SOPs:
- are written with the people who do the task;
- are short, specific to the yacht and usable on deck;
- state the hazards, the controls, roles and abort criteria;
- are reviewed after incidents, near misses, equipment changes and at set intervals;
- are trained, drilled and checked, not just filed.
The MCA guide notes that violations usually happen in the name of efficiency. If crew routinely work round a procedure, the procedure may be wrong. Find out before enforcing it.
Oversight
Implementing a procedure is not the end. Oversight means walking the deck, watching the task done, asking crew how it works in practice, and reviewing records. The A-II/2 criterion is that operations are demonstrated to be effective and in accordance with applicable rules.
CAUTION — Paper compliance An SMS that looks complete on the shelf but does not match what happens on deck is a liability, not a defence.
TIP — Change management Before changing a procedure, a rota or a piece of equipment, ask what else it affects. New toys, new tenders and new crew all change risk.