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Crew documentationEvery certificate you need to work aboard a superyacht, and how to upload them to your profile.
Professional yacht crew typically need STCW Basic Safety Training and an ENG1 (or ML5) medical certificate as baseline requirements, plus role-specific tickets such as Yachtmaster, OOW, GMDSS or Food Hygiene Level 2/3 depending on department. Velvet Ocean Crew's AI document review reads each uploaded certificate and verifies it automatically, usually within minutes.
The foundation certificate for all seafarers. Covers personal survival, fire prevention, elementary first aid and personal safety & social responsibility.
Required by — All crew
Required for crew serving as firefighting team leaders or officers. Covers advanced fire suppression, breathing apparatus and damage control.
Required by — Officers, HODs
Covers assessment and treatment of injuries or illness at sea when medical assistance is unavailable. Required within STCW for designated officers.
Required by — Officers, Bosun, Chef
A higher-level medical qualification for persons in charge of medical care onboard. Required for vessels without a qualified medical doctor.
Required by — Captain, Chief Officer
Mandatory training covering ship security procedures, threat recognition and shipboard security duties under ISPS requirements.
Required by — All crew
Global Maritime Distress and Safety System licence. Required for officers making routine and distress radio communications on MF/HF/VHF.
Required by — Command, Radio officer
UK-issued medical fitness certificate for yacht crew. Equivalent to ML5 in other jurisdictions. Confirms you are medically fit to work at sea in a professional capacity.
Required by — All professional crew
RYA qualification for skippers operating vessels up to 60 nautical miles offshore. Demonstrates competency in coastal navigation and seamanship.
Required by — Captain, Chief Officer
Covers offshore and night passages. Recognised as a competency qualification for vessels under 24m not on commercial voyages, and as experience evidence for larger vessels.
Required by — Captain, senior deck
The highest RYA award, covering ocean passage-making and celestial navigation. Widely respected in the superyacht industry as evidence of high-level seamanship.
Required by — Captain
STCW II/1 certificate of competency for the officer of the watch on vessels over 500gt. Required for commercial operations on larger superyachts.
Required by — Watch-keeping officers
Non-immigrant visa permitting work as a crewmember in US waters. Essential for vessels operating in Florida, the Caribbean, New England and the Great Lakes.
Required by — All crew on US-bound yachts
Basic food handling and safety certificate. Typically required for all galley crew and anyone handling food aboard. Can be completed online in a single day.
Required by — All galley crew, stewardesses serving food
Supervisory-level food safety qualification. Required or strongly preferred for head chefs and those managing other galley staff.
Required by — Head chef, Sous chef
Professional qualification in massage therapy, beauty therapy or physiotherapy. Enables crew to work as masseuse, therapist or spa manager on larger yachts.
Required by — Masseuse, wellness crew
PDF, JPG and PNG files up to 10 MB each. Multiple documents can be attached to a single certificate type (front and back, for example).
Add your certificate expiry dates and we’ll send you a reminder 60 days before renewal is due. Keep your profile current without manual tracking.
Once uploaded and reviewed by our team, each certificate shows a verification badge. Employers can see verified vs self-declared at a glance.
