The MCA, which stands for Maritime and Coastguard Agency, plays a vital role in the world of the superyacht. Back in the 1980’s, registering your yacht under the MCA flag was extremely popular due to its lack of rules and taxes. Hundreds and hundreds of yachts flew the red ensign and all was hunky dory, until suddenly the MCA recognized this ‘easy’ factor and decided to put pen to paper and write Codes of Practice for yachts under and over 24m.

Many years have subsequently been spent perfecting these rules and the latest lot, having given yachts several years of grace in order to get their act together, came into force in 2002. Suddenly, from being an easy flag to be registered under, it went the other way. Additionally these rules were all retroactive which meant that if your yacht didn’t meet the standards imposed she had to go back to the yard and be hacked at and chopped down and built up until she did meet them. It has been very difficult and sometimes almost impossible to make a yacht comply with these new standards.

But if your yacht is registered with the MCA and it does not comply with the MCA’s code of practice, the yacht could face detention. Should there be an accident and it was found that your yacht had not met the standards outlined, the captain and owner are immediately exposed to the risk of negligence lawsuits. Any insurance claims would also be rejected.

There is always the possibility of ‘re-flagging’ or ‘flagging out’ which means that you apply to register your yacht under a different flag but this does not absolve the owner from his responsibility for ‘due diligence’ and for taking safety seriously. There is another disadvantage when it comes to re-flagging.
There are flags which have minimal safety requirements: register your yacht with one of these and you will find that it will become a prime target for detention. When port authorities see you coming they rub their hands with glee and pounce. They consider that yachts registered with certain flags are unwilling or unable to meet with reasonable safety requirements and are therefore fair game.

There are roughly 90 or so different flags under which you can register your yacht. 14 or thereabouts, carry and impose the British MCA code of practice. To add to the confusion there are registries like the Bahamas which have no connection with Britain yet still impose the MCA Codes of practice.
For the purposes of this article we will be dealing with just two of these flags: the British MCA and the American USCG (United States Coast Guard). Today there are about four thousand superyachts registered to the MCA and thus must be MCA compliant. There are roughly around fifteen hundred yachts that are American, USCG registered and must comply with the USCG code of practice. The remaining roughly two and half thousand yachts are registered between about eighty different countries.

The MCA, which to all intents and purposes is British, is made up of Britain and its overseas territories such as Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena, South Georgia/South Sandwich Islands and Turks and Caicos. MCA registered vessels fly the red ensign and are called red flagged vessels. They are governed by the MCA and have to comply with the Codes set out by this agency. The MCA Code of Practice is the most comprehensive and practical standard available today. It is likely that it will be accepted by most recognized and official bodies as the basic standard of safety for any commercial yacht in the future.
The MCA is the UK Regulatory Authority for shipping. The countries listed are known as the Red Ensign Group. The majority will follow the lead given by the MCA but may have their own interpretation of MCA requirements. If your vessel is registered say, in the Cayman Islands
then you must abide by their regulations. It is your responsibility to check out where their requirements differ form those of the MCA.
France & Italy have recently published their own Codes of Practice for yachts. Others are likely to follow suit.

American registered vessels fly the blue ensign and are called blue flagged vessels. These are governed by the USCG. When in American waters these yachts may fly a slightly different flag. This is called the Betsy Ross.
Once registered, the law requires the yacht and all that sail in her, to follow the rules of the chosen flag. A yacht is governed not so much by the country that it is physically in, although rules and regs apply here too, but by the flag that it flies under. Both the MCA and the USCG are a division of the department of transport in their respective countries.
MCA
Many owners are now choosing to register their vessels under the MCA flag. This is for a number of reasons not least of the fact that she will be easier to sell, easier to charter and manning is considerably easier than the USCG which only permit American nationals or green card holders to crew on the blue flagged yacht.

So Where Does All The Above Leave You?
Every registered vessel has to follow the laws set out by the flag regarding manning requirements. Just as when you jump on an aeroplane, you believe that the body governing the airline has enforced certain rules about the plane and the crew so that you will be safe, so it is with yachts. The airline pilot has to be qualified to a certain standard set by this body, as do the navigators, the engineers, the stewardesses etc. You trust that they are trained to a degree sufficient for you to be comfortable about putting your life in their hands. The same applies to yachts. These laws are in place to protect and keep both crew and passengers safe.

Now supposing you are, for example, a South African and you are looking for work as a deckhand. You are in France; you have your CV clutched in your hand as you wander along the docks. Side by side are two beautiful yachts, one flying the red ensign, British, the other the blue ensign, American. If you are considering applying for work aboard the US flagged yacht and you do not hold an American passport or a Green Card; forget about it. US registered vessels can only have US licenced crew and only American citizens or holders of green cards can get any USCG documentation. Neat and tidy. Black and white. Simple. You know where you stand. If you are anything but an American passport holder, you can largely put aside any thoughts on applying to work on an American flagged vessel.

If the captain of a US vessel employs foreigners he risks not only the wrath of the USCG but if these crew do not need licences (stew/chef) he then also risks the wrath of the US immigration authorities. They are not allowed to work in the US on a blue flagged vessel – They would face the very strong possibility of deportation from the US.

So you have approached the other yacht flying the red ensign and you ask the captain for a job. Before he goes any further he needs to know a few things about you. Is your passport current with at least one year left to run before it expires? Do you have the necessary visas? Finally do you have any of the relevant papers and or qualifications for the job that you are applying for. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, he must meet the standards set out by the code that the yacht complies to, secondly, he may have set his own personal standards over and above this code.