PSC deficiency code 01307: Minimum hours of rest
Area 01 Certificates and documentation
Code 01307 is used when the rest itself falls short: a watchkeeper or another seafarer with safety duties got less than the minimum. The inspector's doubt is whether the people taking the first watch out of port are fit to do it. Faulty or missing records go under 01308 records of rest, and the MLC view of work and rest hours under 18201.
What the inspector looks at
The last week of records is laid over what the ship was doing.
- rest in any 24 hours and any 7 days for the master, chief officer, watchkeepers and engineers on call
- how rest was split, and the longest gap between rest periods
- port stays, cargo work, drills and pilotage against the hours recorded
- call-outs on unattended machinery space duty and the compensatory rest that followed
- whether the people due on the departure watch are rested now
- any flag exception relied on, and the document granting it
Common findings
- Chief officer did not receive minimum 10 hours rest in 24-hour period during cargo operations
- Master on two-watch system less than 77 hours rest in 7-day period
- Duty engineer's rest disturbed by UMS alarms, no compensatory rest
- Drills conducted during rest periods of watchkeepers
- Officers due for departure watch not sufficiently rested
The rule behind it
STCW regulation VIII/1 and section A-VIII/1 of the STCW Code set minimum rest for officers in charge of a watch, ratings forming part of a watch and anyone with designated safety, security or pollution prevention duties. MLC 2006 Standard A2.3 sets the same rest limits for all seafarers (a flag may instead set maximum work of 14 hours in 24 and 72 in 7 days). It also requires drills to disturb rest as little as possible and gives compensatory rest to anyone on call whose rest is broken. The master may suspend the schedule for the immediate safety of the ship or to help others in distress, then give adequate rest.
Action codes you are likely to see
The fix needs time or people, so 17 is common. An ISM deficiency (18) can be added when the company had no answer to repeated breaches. The STCW section of the IMO list of detainable deficiencies includes inability to provide, for the first watch of a voyage and the watches relieving it, persons who are sufficiently rested and otherwise fit for duty. In that case the officer may hold the ship (30) until rest is taken or extra crew joins. See action taken codes.
How to close it
The quickest close is rest: the master delays sailing until those concerned have had their hours. A lasting fix is about workload, such as a third deck officer, extra hands for port calls or drills moved out of rest periods. Keep the updated records, revised watch schedule and the company's corrective action with the Form B.