Every Cayman Islands Ship shall carry insurance cover against risks of loss or damage to third parties. All vessels with a gross tonnage of 1000 or greater are additionally required to carry third party (Protection and Indemnity (P&I)) insurance to meet their liabilities under the Bunkers Convention and evidenced by a Certificate issued by the CISR. Please see Shipping Notice: CISN 01/2012 (Rev 1.1) regarding Insurance Requirements for Cayman Islands Vessels.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the vessel maintains a Certificate of Code Compliance (LY2/LY3) the vessel should maintain the manning levels as indicated in the Minimum Safe Manning Document. If it is privately operated the yacht can replace the Certificate of Code Compliance with a Statement of Compliance if it does not wish to comply with the manning requirements. Please also see Shipping Notice 02/21012 regarding Manning for yachts carrying 12 passengers or less on the commercial part of the register as "Commercial Vessels" or which are engaged in trade.
Yes, the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG), prescribes safe measures for visibility, navigation and sound signalling to ensure safe navigation for all users of the world’s oceans.
Yes, MARPOL applies to all vessels, commercial and pleasure, however only yachts over 400 GT are required to be certificated.
Yes. However, a yacht can only be issued with one Certificate of Registry at a time. In order for the yacht to be registered as a commercial vessel it must be in possession of valid certificates appropriate to its size. For yachts over 500 GT, this includes, but is not limited to, a Safety Management Certificate, an International Ship Security Certificate, a Continuous Synopsis Record, Maritime Labour Certificate (when applicable) and a Minimum Safe Manning Document. These Certificates must remain valid for the duration of the period that the yacht remains registered as a commercial vessel. The Certificate of Registry which is not in current use must be returned to Cayman but can then be re-issued on application.
No, Cayman does not require that the yacht engage in trade.
No, the vessel may remain on the Pleasure Yacht Register, but the yacht must have valid Large Commercial Yacht Certificates appropriate to the size of the vessel and be manned in accordance with Cayman Manning Regulations and LY3 requirements.
The periodic inspections can be carried out within 3 months either side of the anniversary date, which corresponds to the expiry date of the certificate otherwise the certificate becomes invalid.
What are the requirements for maintaining Large Commercial Yacht Certificates once these are issued?
Large Commercial Yacht Certificates are valid for a maximum of 5 years subject to periodic inspections followed by a renewal survey at the end of the 5 years.
See Matrix of International Conventions Applicable to Yachts.
Yes, many owners will build to the Code or bring their yachts into the Code, for a number of reasons, including the peace of mind of knowing their yacht complies with an internationally recognised safety standard. Other reasons include vessel resale value maximisation and risk management issues such as risk mitigation.
When the yacht is engaged in trade/commercial activities, such as chartering-out. Further details are available in Shipping Notice CISN 14a/2004 (2010 Version) - Large Private and Commercial Yachts Compliance with Regulations
LY1 is the abbreviated term used to refer to the original Large Commercial Yacht Code which came into effect in December 1998. LY2 is the abbreviated term for the revised Code, which came into effect in September 2004. LY3 is the abbreviated term for the revised Code, which came (or comes, depending on the time of the web-site update) into effect in August 2013.
This Code of Practice was introduced in 1998 (as an equivalent approach) to address the requirements of SOLAS, International Load Line Convention (LL 66) and the STCW Convention in a yacht-specific manner. IMO Circular letter 1966 dated 27th July 1997 gave effect to the Code as equivalence on an international basis.