Obligations for Captains when they arrive and depart Mallorca Interview with Luis Porto of the foreign bord control When a yacht arrives from outside the European Union,
for example Gibraltar, Morocco and Monaco, all passports and Seaman’s Book or copy of the crew members’ contracts, stamped and signed crew list and a copy of yachts’ registry must be presented. We then issue an authorisation letter of entry clearance into the EU. The same applies if we are the last EU port before departure from the Union, and once all documentation has been received and verified, the yacht is given clearance to exit EU waters. Obligations when there is a crew change on board: Any member who is signed on to a yacht as a seaman (with seaman’s book or work contract) is allowed to come off the boat and freely move around all the island without coming to border control in Mallorca. This law in ports around the rest of Europe is restricted to a 10km radius from where the yacht is berthed. If a crew member is leaving the yacht and wishes to travel further then the relationship between seaman and yacht is broken and they are now a simple tourist. The crew member would need to present their passport, seaman’s book or contract, flight details, stamped crew list and copy of yacht registry to port authorities. When a crew member is embarking on a yacht they would need to go through the same process, their passport will be stamped out of the EU to show that they have embarked on the yacht. What crew members are not allowed to do is go to Barcelona, France or anywhere unless they have signed off from being a seaman. If that crew member wishes to leave the island then they would have to come to border control and enter the
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EU. If a crew member holds a European passport they would still need to go to port authorities for them to verify their passport in the police database. What is the rule for yachts and requiring a cosignatory for all immigration and clearance purposes? Cosignatories are required by all when there is a visa applications and transit visa requirements, as these requests can only be done by cosignatories regardless of the length of the yacht. What are the most common irregularities that occur here in Palma? That crew members do not come to border control when they arrive in Spain and aboard a yacht without having an entry stamp from the authorities, what does that mean, if they have their passports checked and they do not have the required stamp they are illegal citizens in the country. They have not done what is required and they can be detained, sent home and can be refused entry into the EU for up to 3 Years. Something so simple can cause so much upset that is why you should always check with your cosignatory what you need to do. Is the Captain liable if the crew member has not got the correct stamps? The passport is the responsibility of the person that it belongs to and they need to be aware of what they need in order to work in