Marine Department Pleasure Vessel Operators Certificate

A PVOC, or what used to be known as a PVOL, with the L standing for Licence, or even further back in time a Masters and Engineers License or a Certificate of Competency, is something all members should have if they wish to operate a boat registered as a pleasure vessel.

Originally the Certificate was a small grey or blue passport sized book but these gave way to laminated pieces of paper twice the size of a credit card to the credit card size we have now.

The original certificate was a Local Certificate of Competency as Master of a vessel of 15 tons and under, endorsed with “valid for privately owned pleasure craft only”. This was changed to Masters I or II with Engineers I, II or III. This of course was back in the good old days, before metrification, when we used old money, feet and horse power. Although they are not common these days the old teak and yacal wooden junks, with reconditioned Gardner bus engines as propulsion units, were 45 feet in length and the Gardner was 135 horse power. So that was the limit that was set for a Masters II and an Engineers II. For anything larger that that a Masters I and an Engineers I was required. Engineers III was for an outboard engine of any size. These days the engineers certificate covers all three classes of engines. With metrification came the increase from 45 feet to 15 metres for a PLOC II.

Exams were originally oral where you sat in front of and examiner who asked you questions trying to ascertain what you didn’t know rather than what you did know. This gave way to the modern era of multiplechoice questions where you have to tick one out of four answers. One of the answers was nothing to do with the question, one was wrong and of the other two one was more correct that the other. Some were a tad ambiguous, and this led to various companies opening up to teach students how to pass the exam by giving then the correct answers to the questions asked. The Hong Kong PVOC is not recognised anywhere else in the world and this could be because you can pass the exam and have never ever set foot on a pleasure boat ! However, having passed the exam you are entitled to jump on, say, a 20-foot-long speed boat, with a 300 horse power outboard engine, and tear off down the water at 40 knots.

A PVOC entitles the holder to operate a Pleasure Vessel only. A locally licensed commercial vessel requires a local certificate of competency as Coxswain or Engineer, Grade 1,2 or 3. The recent changes is the allow holders of commercial to operate pleasure vessels as well.

The HK SAR MarDep made some changes to the local certificates, both Coxswains, Engineers and PVOC. The master and engineer certificates have been combined into a single certificate. Where previously most members had a Local Certificate of Competency as Pleasure Vessel Master Grade II or, for the members who received their certificate when Adam was a lad, a Local Certificate of Competency as Master of a vessel of 15 tons and under, endorsed with “valid for privately owned pleasure craft only”, and a Pleasure Vessel Engineer Certificate of Competency, the new Certificates are a single Pleasure Vessel Operator Grade 2 Certificate.

Members should note that their PVOC is only valid until the day before they reach the age of 65. The PVOC will be renewed for a period of three years only, but please see the side box. One more three-year renewal is allowed but after that, when the certificate holder reaches 71 years old, the certificate is only renewed for a period of one year. Members should further note the following caveats for renewal.

Extension of certificates

1 In this section, “certificate” means any local certificate of competency.

2 The holder of a certificate may apply for extension of the certificate.

3 The application shall be made

a if the holder has not attained the age of 71, within six months before the expiry of the certificate; or b if the holder is aged 71 or above, within three months before the expiry of the certificate.

4 If the Director is satisfied that the applicant is fit to hold the certificate for the extended term referred to in subsection 5 , the Director shall approve the application.

5 If the Director approves the application, the certificate shall be extended for –

a if the application is one to which subsection 3 a relates, 3 years; or b if the application is one to which subsection 3 b relates, 1 year.

6 Holder of an expired certificate may, subject to meeting the following conditions or criteria, apply for issuance of a certificate with the same grade as that of the expired certificate without undergoing the examination

a i the certificate held has expired for less than 12 months; or ii if the certificate has expired for a period of 12 months or more but less than 36 months, a maritime refresher course recognised by the Director must be completed; and

b if the certificate applied is of coxswain grade or pleasure vessel operator grade, the applicant must provide an eyesight test certificate to prove that he has met the eyesight standards set out in the relevant examination rules.

So the message here is that members should renew their PVOL before it expires. You may even get a reminder letter if MarDep has your correct address.

However members renewing their license when they get to 65 and above will be pleased to know that MarDep does not charge senior citizens for the renewal.