Chief Mate Yacht

Find information on training, sea service and other requirements for the Chief Mate Yacht certificate, including how to apply and pay for your certificate, and where to find more help.

Your Chief Mate Yacht certificate is valid for five years.

With this certificate, you can perform the functions and duties of a chief mate on a superyacht of less than 3000 gross tonnage (GT) in any operating area. A superyacht is a commercial yacht or sail training vessel that is 24 metres or more in length, less than 3000 gross tonnage and does not carry cargo or more than 12 passengers.

From Chief Mate Yacht, you can progress to Master Yacht under 500GT and Master Yacht certificates of competency.

 

Requirements

Before you spend time doing sea service and training, we recommend you check that you can meet the medical fitness and eyesight standards (including for colour vision), and that you understand the fit and proper person requirements.

A summary of the requirements for this certificate is provided below. You need to meet all of these requirements to get your Chief Mate Yacht certificate.

  • prove you have the minimum sea service requirements for the option you choose
  • complete and pass the approved qualification for Chief Mate Yacht
  • have the required STCW ancillary certificates and the STCW global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS) certificate of competency
  • pass Maritime NZ’s final exam
  • prove that you are a fit and proper person
  • be medically fit and have good eyesight
  • be at least 18 years old.

You must also have English conversation, reading and writing skills appropriate to the responsibilities and functions for the level of your certificate, so that you can satisfactorily complete training, pass examinations and discharge your duties.

Each of these requirements and how to prove that you meet them is explained in the full guideline below.

Chief Mate Yacht [PDF: 262kB, 25 pages]

 

Cost

The application fee for this certificate is $368, which includes goods and services tax (GST).

 

Application process

This is the application process for this certificate of competency.

1. Do you meet all the requirements?

  • You need to check that you meet all of the requirements for this certificate.

2. Do you have the documents we need?

You need to prove that you meet the requirements. Include all of the documents we have asked for with your application form. Use the checklist in the guideline to help you.

Remember we need copies, not the originals.

3. Send us your application by courier or email

There are two options for you to send your application:

  1. Send your application by email, attaching the scanned documents. The application form has information about the requirements for electronic copies.
  2. Use a courier to send us your completed application forms, supporting documents.

The addresses are on the application form.

4. Confirmation and/or request sent

We will send you an email or letter to confirm that we have received your application and advise you of any documents we need from you before we can assess your application.

We must receive your payment before we can finalise your application.

5. Assessment and payment of application fee

Once you have sent us all the documents we need, we will assess your application and make a decision. 

We will send you an invoice with your reference number and information on how to pay the application fee once we begin the assessment. Please note we cannot release your certificate unless payment has been received.

6. Issue certificate

We will send you:

  • your certificate, if your application has been successful, or
  • a letter or email explaining why your application was unsuccessful.

 

Contact us for more help

If you have any questions about seafarer certification, please contact our Personnel Certification team.

Phone:

New Zealand (toll free):
0508 SEACERT or 0508 732 237

Calling from outside New Zealand:
+64 4 473 0111

Email:

seafarers@maritimenz.govt.nz
Tell us what you need help with and remember to include your contact details (email address and phone numbers).