The ―Centre for Boating‖ is the entity within SAMSA responsible for carrying out the mandate delegated to SAMSA by the Merchant Shipping Act, 1951, in as far as it applies to small vessels and inland waters and more specifically the implementation of the Merchant Shipping (National Small Vessel Safety) Regulations 2007.

1 Implementing the Regulations in a clear and transparent manner in accordance with their mandate;

2 Promoting safe and responsible boating;

3 Providing leadership in matters of interpretation of the Regulations;

4 Sharing knowledge with interested and affected parties;

5 Resolving problems which prevent implementation of a national safe boating regime ;

6 Participating in, as well as providing leadership to, the Department of Transport‘s Liaison Committee;

7 Championing the cause of the many facets of the marine in all port offices are involved to a greater or lesser degree depending on the type and number of affected vessels operating in their particular areas of responsibility.

There is Centre for Boating representation in Pretoria, Port Nolloth, Saldanha Bay, Cape Town, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Richards Bay who are collectively responsible for implementing the Merchant Shipping (National Small Vessel Safety) Regulations 2007.

Survey and licensing of commercial vessels and commercial operations;

Improving the examination system;

Auditing Authorised Agencies to ensure continued improvement;

Participate and provide leadership to the Department of Transport Liaison committee;

Resolving disputes and problems arising from the implementation of the Regulations;

Advising and assisting clubs and local authorities;

Participating in any safety awareness and promotion campaigns;

Developing small vessel competency within SAMSA.

Pretoria Office: Inland areas including the following;

All dams contained within the North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng Provinces.

Western Region: Port Nolloth: Saldanha Bay: Cape Town:

Orange River to Cape Agulhas and adjacent tidal inland areas; and

all dams contained in the Western Cape and Northern Cape Provinces.

Southern Region: Mossel Bay: Port Elizabeth: East London:

Cape Agulhas to Port Edward and adjacent tidal inland areas; and

all dams contained in the Eastern Cape and Orange Free State Provinces.

Eastern Region: Durban: Richards Bay

Port Edward to Ponta do Ouro and adjacent tidal inland areas; and

all dams contained in Kwa-Zulu Natal, as well as providing support and technical assistance to the Pretoria office for larger vessels.

The Merchant Shipping (National Small Vessel Safety) Regulations, 2007 (as amended), apply to commercial small vessels < 25 GT and pleasure vessels < 100 GT in all South African tidal and sea areas, as well as all vessels regardless of their size on inland waters.

On tidal waters and sea areas the regime has already applied since 2002. On inland waters, the regulations regarding the certification of skippers and the marking and certification of certain vessels have applied since August 2008, and the design and construction requirements for small vessels have applied since August 2009.

Inland waters means all waters accessible to the public and includes the waters contained within ports, fishing harbours, lagoons, rivers, dams, wetlands and lakes.

The Merchant Shipping (National Small Vessel Safety) Regulations, 2007 (as amended), details a regime of “approved markings” which have to be displayed on all pleasure vessels, as well as “certificates of fitness” to be issued by either the Authority or “Authorised Agencies”.

1. All vessels excepting power driven vessels of 15 HP or less, sailing vessels of less than 9 metres in length and vessels propelled by human power alone, must be marked with a single traceable‘ approved marking‘;MN 13 of 2011 Page 9 of 130 2. All skippers of motor vessels of more than 15 HP and sailing vessels of 9 metres and more in

length must be certificated;.

Skippers of pleasure vessels being sailing vessels of 9 metres and more in overall length, or power driven vessels of more than 15 HP, require a Small Vessel Certificate of Competence in accordance with the regulations.

1.1 All vessels excepting power driven vessels of 15 HP or less, sailing vessels of less than 9 metres in length and vessels propelled by human power alone, must be marked with a single traceable‘ approved marking‘;MN 13 of 2011 Page 9 of 130 2. All skippers of motor vessels of more than 15 HP and sailing vessels of 9 metres and more in

length must be certificated;.

1.2 Skippers of pleasure vessels being sailing vessels of 9 metres and more in overall length, or power driven vessels of more than 15 HP, require a Small Vessel Certificate of Competence in accordance with the regulations. 

1.3 All vessels excepting power driven vessels of 15 HP or less, sailing vessels of less than 9 metres in length and vessels propelled by human power alone must be inspected and certified as seaworthy annually (i.e. obtain a Certificate of Fitness);

1.4 All vessels (regardless of the fact that some are exempted from skipper‘s certificates and certificates of fitness) must carry the appropriate and relevant safety equipment according to the vessel category and type;

(Note that vessels described as personal water craft of less than 3 metres (ie. jetskis and other similar vessels), motor vessels of 15 HP or less, sailing vessels under 7 metres, and non-power driven vessels are exempted from certain safety requirements but are still however required to carry the safety equipment required by annex 2 as well as have sufficient buoyancy.)

1.5 All vessels must have sufficient buoyancy. In accordance with the regulations, vessel owners are required to be able to prove that their vessels have suitable and adequate buoyancy. This is dealt with fully in section 9.

2. Authorised Agencies:

Under the Merchant Shipping (National Small Vessel Safety) Regulations, 2007 (as amended), vessels used solely for pleasure are exempted from licensing, but are generally (except exempted vessels) required to be inspected, have an approved identification number issued, have Certificates of Fitness issued, and skippers of certain types of vessel are to be certificated. The authority may designate any or all of these functions to an – Authorised Agency.

Authorised Agencies are certain water sport bodies that qualify for designation as per the definitions in the Merchant Shipping (National Small Vessel Safety) Regulations, 2007 (as amended) as per regulation 30.

3. Categories of Small Vessels:

“Category”, in relation to a vessel, means the particular category of vessel determined as follows:

(a) Category A—vessels operating any distance from shore;

(b) Category B—vessels operating less than 40 nautical miles from shore;

(c) Category C—vessels operating less than 15 nautical miles from shore;

(d) Category D—vessels operating less than 5 nautical miles from shore;

(e) Category E—vessels operating not more than 1 nautical mile from shore and 15 nautical miles from an approved launch site;

(f) Category R – vessels operating solely on inland waters. (Now defined as all water areas accessible to the public and contained within ports and fishing harbours, lagoons, rivers, dams, wetlands and lakes in the Republic)

All SAMSA appointed surveyors have a duty to ensure that:

(a) the vessel qualifies for licensing or registration in terms of South African ownership;

(b) the vessel is properly surveyed/inspected and that the process is properly documented;

(c) a survey fee raised; (of which a portion is kept in the case of outside surveyors)

(d) the levy collected in the case of commercial vessels;

(e) an official/approved number (vessel tracking number) is applied for, (or re-applied for), on the survey form provided;

(f) a LGSC or COF is correctly issued;

(g) the information contained on the SAMSA survey form is captured in the national database. In the Future.

8.2.4 SAMSA Survey Standard for Small Vessels

In order to aid safety officers and SAMSA surveyors inspecting the thousands of smaller vessels, the following small boat survey standard is provided. (In the case of SAMSA surveyors, the following section is the standard to be used and is the standard to which you may be held.)

The surveyor must look for modifications or alterations that invalidate any previous approvals (the existence of a previous issue of a LGSC or a COF indicates an earlier approval and therefore once again photos are invaluable in protecting surveyors from claims and allegations arising later), for example:

alterations to the draining facilities on the transom

the removal or fitting of cabins

cutting down or raising of bulwarks

raising or lowering of deck heights

retrofitting of smaller and lighter engines or heavier engines in displacement vessels

The surveyor must satisfy himself that the alterations, modifications and /or repairs do not affect the seaworthiness of the vessel. If he suspects otherwise, he can call for specifications of the alterations or repairs, or call for tests to be carried out (e.g. buoyancy tests). In cases of doubt other surveyors or the Principal Officer must be consulted.

The surveyor must conduct a visual inspection of the hull and its deck, taking particular note of:

tampering with buoyancy

hatch cover securing

draining of “step-down” cabins

securing of windows

securing of keel strips

damage to hull and deck

the deck to hull connection

the condition and securing of inflatable sponsors

the securing of fittings such as cleats and towing devices

the transom to hull connection

star cracking or osmosis

underwater ship side valves and intakes

non-return valves and overboard discharges

There are only two ways of obtaining a national certificate of competence;

1. Examination by a SAMSA appointed examiner (whether a SAMSA officer or otherwise); or

2. Training and examination by a SAMSA accredited institution.

10.2.2 Issuing of Certificates of Competence

No distinction is made between pleasure and commercial <9m power driven skipper certification and only the national certificate of competence will be recognized for this category of skippers.

All national small vessel certificates of competence for power driven small vessels will be issued centrally by SAMSA for all agencies. Proper records and a data base must be kept by the Registrar of Seafarers in Pretoria.

10.3.1.2 Skipper – Inland waters

This basic (academic) level of national certificate certifies that the candidate has demonstrated that he/she has the knowledge necessary to skipper, any category R vessel at any time on any inland waters.

The syllabus is the same as that of a category E, but the sea-time requirements are different. Hence a person can upgrade his Skipper Inland Waters (unrestricted) to a Day Skipper Category E by producing practical sea-time alone. The examination should take this into account and if in any doubt the aspirant skipper should be issued a restricted certificate.

10.3.2.2 Day Skipper -Category E <9m or ≥9m

This basic (academic) level of national certificate certifies that the candidate has demonstrated that he/she has the knowledge necessary to skipper, during daylight hours, any category E small vessel from and to his home-port or sheltered launch site, anywhere in South Africa, but limited to a distance of 1 nautical mile from shore and 15 nautical miles from an approved launch site.

10.8.4 Application forms (SAMSA)

Applications made to SAMSA examiners at the port offices are to be in the form attached as Annexure 6 and in the manner prescribed by procedure. When the application has been assessed by an examiner, and found to be suitable in terms of sea-service on the type of vessels referred to in the flowcharts and any other requirements, the exam process may continue. If not, the candidate is to be advised as to the reasons why the application is not acceptable and deficiencies therein must be rectified. It may be that a candidate has acceptable sea-service and other qualifications for a lower certificate than what is being applied for. In that case, the lower certificate application may be processed should the candidate desire this.

When the required written, practical, oral, endorsement criteria if any, and all other requirements as detailed in this notice have been complied with, the examiner must issue an Interim certificate to the candidate which is valid for a period of six months. The examiner then completes the prescribed form (Annex 6) detailing the exact nature and type of certificate that is to be issued, and submits this form along with any other required documentation, including a copy of the Interim certificate, directly to the Registrar of Seafarers in Pretoria.