REG-END-L1.1

The Red Ensign Group and Why No Flag Issues CoCs

REG-END-M1 · The System · REG-END-M1-A Who the Category 1 flags are, what an STCW I/10 endorsement is, and which flags take a UK CoC as it stands.

Five Category 1 registers share one pattern: **none of them issues a Certificate of Competency**. The rest of this course follows from that.

Orientation

Governing: STCW Reg. I/10; each registry's endorsement notice. Builds on: your own national CoC.

The Red Ensign Group (REG) is the family of British registers: the UK, the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Territories. For yacht crew the useful split is between its two categories.

Category 1 and Category 2

Category Registers Size
Category 1 Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Isle of Man Any size and type; Gibraltar describes itself as able to register "all ship types of unlimited size"
Category 2 Anguilla, Falkland Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Montserrat, St Helena, Turks & Caicos Restricted; Jersey, the largest, specialises in ships up to 400 tons and registers commercial vessels up to 399 tons

Large yachts under a British-territory flag sit almost entirely in Category 1, and those five registers are the subject of this course. Category 2 crew rules are not covered.

None of the five issues CoCs

Flag Issues its own CoCs? What it gives you Key document
Cayman Islands No (MPM Rev 14 §9(a)) Cayman Islands Endorsement CISN 01/2024 Rev 02
Isle of Man No (MSN 051 §2) IoM Endorsement, a digitally signed PDF MSN 051, 26 Aug 2025
Bermuda No (BSN 2025-015 §1) Bermuda Endorsement, electronic with QR code BSN 2025-015
BVI No (MC 01/2024) Virgin Islands Flag State Endorsement MC 01/2024; MC 10/2025
Gibraltar No Gibraltar Endorsement, electronic since 4 Apr 2022 GSF-01; country list of 14 Dec 2023

Each of them recognises a certificate issued by another Administration and attests to that recognition under STCW Reg. I/10. Cayman calls your national CoC the "underlying certificate" (MPM §9(a)). The phrase is worth adopting.

What follows

  • Your career stays with your issuing Administration. Exams, sea-service sign-off, upgrading and revalidation all happen there. The flag never examines you for a CoC.
  • The endorsement is a mirror. Cayman says it "reflects the identical rights, obligations and limitations as the underlying Certificate of Competency" (MPM §9(c)). A near-coastal limit on the CoC stays on the endorsement (CISN 01/2024 §2.2).
  • The endorsement dies with the CoC. If the national certificate lapses, every flag endorsement built on it lapses too.
  • The underlying CoC travels with you. Cayman requires the original to be carried with the endorsement at all times (MPM §9(e)).

Sea-service records are separate

Discharge books are not endorsements. Cayman issues a Seafarer's Discharge Book to any bona fide seafarer on request (MPM §10). The Isle of Man stopped issuing discharge books on 1 April 2019 and issues a Record of Sea Service instead. Bermuda's flag guide requires officers and crew to hold a Bermuda or other REG discharge book (MG-03).

TIP — Learn five terms now Underlying CoC; endorsement; CRA (the receipt that lets you sail while the endorsement is issued); CEC/FSE (the UK's own recognition document); LAP (knowledge of the flag's law and administrative procedures). The next lesson takes each in turn.

Practice questions

5 questions

recall · core

Which of these registers is Category 2 rather than Category 1? (a) Isle of Man (b) Bermuda (c) Jersey (d) Gibraltar

recall · core

What does the Cayman Manning Policy Manual call the national CoC on which a Cayman endorsement is based? (a) The parent licence (b) The primary CEC (c) The underlying certificate (d) The base endorsement

recall · core

According to MPM §9(c), a Cayman endorsement carries which rights? (a) Master-level rights whatever the CoC grade (b) Broader rights than the national CoC (c) Identical rights, obligations and limitations to the underlying CoC (d) Rights limited to near-coastal voyages

recall · core

From what date did the Isle of Man stop issuing seafarers' discharge books? (a) 1 January 2017 (b) 26 August 2025 (c) 4 April 2022 (d) 1 April 2019

scenario · core

A second officer holds a national CoC with a near-coastal limitation and obtains a Cayman endorsement. She is then offered an ocean crossing as OOW. What is the position? (a) Cayman converts the limit to unlimited after three months (b) The endorsement is valid only for the same near-coastal voyages as the issuing Administration defined (c) The Cayman endorsement lifts the near-coastal limit (d) Near-coastal limits apply only to masters

Independent study. xplor is not affiliated with the Red Ensign Group or any of its registries and awards no certificate, endorsement or Certificate of Competency. Only the relevant registry can decide whether your certificate is recognised, and every endorsement application must go through that registry's own process. AI-drafted content pending subject-matter-expert review.