Brexit & Travelling For Crew

With Brexit taking place in the middle of a global pandemic, a career in yachting has become more challenging for a significant number of crew.


For any crew members joining yachts, and for those who are planning to travel to yachting hubs to look for work, if Brexit affects you we recommend you read below.
You can still enjoy your adventures in yachting, even for green crew, you just need to be more prepared and understand the new rules.

Below you will find useful links with documents you need before travelling, and the Brexit update for yachties from the PYA, which we hope you’ll find informative!

As always, please double check your country’s website for any updates as the situation evolves, and we will do our best to share news on our social media pages.

Travelling to Europe - link to general guidelines for all countries.

UK to France

Currently the government is advising against all travel, but for those who need to please find below some useful links and certificates to complete before travelling:

- The certificate you need to complete to enter France (referred to as an ’attestation’ in French).
- The sworn statement you need to complete to enter France.


Please note:
Crew must arrive with a negative PCR test and the relevant documentation before being stamped in to France, and will then need to quarantine for 7 days. At the end of the 7-day period you will need another negative PCR test.
When you are ready to head back to the UK, you must have another negative PCR test to present at the border in order to be stamped out.

IMPORTANT: Please review your government’s website before travelling due to the imposed lockdown and border closures announced in January 2021.

Brexit guide for yachties

The PYA recently held a webinar to discuss the new rules for UK crew coming to mainland Europe.

They have created this useful document which will hopefully answer all your questions, or feel free to contact them directly for more information.

Some of the questions answered in their document:

- What are the immigration rules for UK crew who were working onboard vessels before Brexit 31/12/2020?
- What if a UK citizen (crew member) has residency in an EU country?
- How far can crew travel from their vessel (in the port) once stamped out of the EU?
- What about UK crew looking for work or dock walking during their 90-day travel allowance?
- What about crew tax declarations?
- How can UK crew get a Seaman’s Book?
- Has the validity of UK (RYA) certificates been affected by Brexit?
- Are ICCs issued by the UK still valid in the EU?
- Will RYA examiner and instructor certificates still be valid with EU training schools?


Here is an interesting article published by Superyacht News on the topic of yachties and Brexit.

MIN notices during the pandemic

MIN 632 Amendment 2 COVID-19 Extension of seafarer employment agreements:
Valid until 30th April 2021.
Ship owners, of UK flag ships, to notify the MCA (mlc@mcga.gov.uk) of any seafarers remaining on board beyond their contracted period.

MIN 620 (M) Amendment 1:
Update on online oral exams and future issue of NOEs during COVID-19 lockdown.
This MIN provides further information on the process relating to the online oral examination and the order in which they will be prioritised. This MIN also provides information on the process for applying for a Notice of Eligibility (NOE). This MIN has been updated with the latest process.