The HK Pleasure Vessel Operators Certificate Grade 1 entitles the holder to take charge of any pleasure vessel operating in Hong Kong waters. Consult the HK Marine Department website for further information:
- Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Local Certificates of Competence) Rules.
- Examination Rules.
- HKMD Examinations.
- Examination Schedules (Written) and Examination Schedules (Oral).
Currently (2015) the HK Marine Department may recognise the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence (note that as of Aug 2015 RYA YM Coastal will no longer be accepted) as being a “certificate that is relevant to the standard”[1] to the HK Pleasure Vessel Operators Certificate Grade 1. You will have to do the following:
- Have a PVOC Grade 2[2].
- Have held your RYA Yachtmaster CoC for 12 months (although we have had reports that sometimes this is not applied).
- Complete the necessary HK Marine Department forms.
- Submit:
- Your original RYA certificate Yachtmaster CoC Offshore.
- Your Grade 2 licence.
- Your logbook to show the necessary experience required of the RYA Yachtmaster CoC Offshore was held at the time of the exam.
- Your First Aid certificate (in date).
- Your Short Range Radio Licence (or equivalent).
Please note that the decision to grant a PVOC 1 rests exclusively with the Director of the HK Marine Department.
Notes:
1. Examination Rules for Pleasure Vessel Operator Certificate of Competence, Para 9.5.1 (Dec 2009).
2. If you don’t have a PVOC2 but currently hold an RYA YM Offshore the HKMD may asked you to sit the HKMD Local Knowledge exam (20 questions) and Engineers exam (40 question). This is a slightly different exam to the standard PVOL2 exam of Masters (40 questions) and Engineers (40 questions). Note that the room for error is considerably less with having only 20 questions as the pass mark is the same.