Home / Learn / Sea service for AMSA certificates

Set by

Marine Order 505

Required for

Most certificates of competency

Not required for

Sailing Master Coastal and Offshore

Checked

September 2026

Sea service is the documented record of time you have actually spent working on vessels. For most AMSA certificates of competency it is a hard requirement, and the amount and type are set out in Marine Order 505 for each certificate.

Why recreational miles often do not count

A logbook full of weekend sailing is not the same thing as sea service. AMSA is interested in verifiable service in a defined capacity on a vessel, recorded in an accepted form and signed by someone who can attest to it. A personal log with no vessel details, no signature and no master is evidence of sailing; it is not evidence of service.

This is the single most avoidable problem in the whole pathway, because it is only fixable going forward. Time already sailed and never documented cannot be reconstructed to a standard AMSA will accept.

Start recording now

Whatever stage you are at, start keeping a record that would survive scrutiny. At a minimum, for each period:

• vessel name, length and unique identifier
• dates on and off
• the waters operated in
• your capacity aboard
• days at sea, and hours where the certificate counts hours
• the name and certificate of the master who can verify it

Get it signed at the end of each period rather than years later. Vessels are sold, operators close and skippers move overseas.

The sailing exception

The two Sailing Master certificates are the exception: AMSA states that sea service evidence is not required when applying for either of them. That does not mean sea time is optional — the prerequisite Yachtmaster qualification carries its own mileage, days and night-hours requirements, so the demand simply sits with the RYA or IYT instead.

Check the current requirement

Sea service requirements changed with the revised Marine Order 505 in January 2023 and continue to be reviewed. Confirm the current requirement for your specific certificate with AMSA before you plan around it — a season built on a superseded figure is an expensive mistake.

Source: AMSA — Marine Order 505 certificates of competency, checked September 2026. Requirements change — confirm the current position with the issuing authority before you plan around anything on this page.