Efficient Deck Hand
EDH sits between deckhand and officer. Here is what the MCA says it is, who needs it and when, and the rating certificates around it, from the MCA's ratings guidance and MSN 1858 Amendment 2.
The Efficient Deck Hand certificate. The MCA calls EDH 'the qualifying examination for an Able Seafarer Deck Certificate', and MSN 1858 makes the course part of the education and training for a UK yacht Certificate of Competency.
The course covers safe working practices in seamanship, cargo work, anchor procedures, pilot ladders and means of access, and shipboard organisation.
The course and the exam must both be taken at an MCA-approved training provider, and you must be at least 17 to qualify. The MCA's guidance gives only the minimum age here and points to MSN 1862 for the full list of requirements, so read that notice before you book.
Yes. MSN 1858 lists EDH among the requirements for OOW (Yachts <3000 GT): the certificate must come from an MCA-approved training provider and be issued at least 18 months before your Certificate of Competency is issued.
In practice, that makes EDH worth doing well before you expect to apply. Taken late, it can hold up a CoC you have otherwise qualified for.
Yes. The course table in MSN 1856 Amendment 1 lists EDH for the merchant II/1, II/2 and II/3 deck CoCs, and describes the course in the same terms.
As we read MSN 1858 and the MCA's ratings guidance: STCW basic safety training comes before your first voyage; the yacht rating certificate and EDH are rating-level certificates; OOW (Yachts <3000 GT) is the first officer CoC on the ladder that requires EDH, along with an accepted yachting certificate such as the Yachtmaster Offshore, 36 months' onboard yacht service and two OOW modules. Master (Yachts <500 GT) then requires an OOW (Yachts <3000 GT) CoC, and Master (Yachts <3000 GT) requires service as OOW.
A certificate that lets you work on yachts and sail training vessels of less than 3000 GT. You must be at least 17; have completed basic safety training; have at least 6 months' onboard yacht service including 2 months' actual seagoing service (or just the 2 months' seagoing service if you completed an MCA-accepted yacht training programme); have a completed yacht rating Training Record Book (the MCA's guidance points to Annex B of MSN 1862 Amendment 1) or a certificate of completion from an MCA-accepted course, with exemptions from the book possible; be assessed against the STCW standards; and hold a valid ENG1.
Many colleges offering yacht training issue it on the MCA's behalf. Otherwise you apply to the MCA on form MSF 4340, and the MCA aims to process applications within 28 days of receipt.
The deck watch rating certificate, STCW II/4 — the MCA says watch rating certificates are the only qualification you need to work as a watch rating. You must be at least 17; have at least 6 months' approved sea service in the deck department (2 months if you completed an MCA-approved special college-based training programme); have completed basic safety training; be assessed against the STCW standards; and hold a valid ENG1.
Many UK-flagged shipping companies issue it on the MCA's behalf. If yours doesn't, apply to the MCA on form MSF 4371, with the deck watch rating Training Record Book (Annex A of MSN 1862 Amendment 1, per the MCA's guidance).
Able Seafarer Deck is a Certificate of Proficiency under STCW regulation II/5. You must be at least 18; have at least 18 months' sea service in the deck department while holding a Navigational Watch Rating certificate (12 months if you follow an MNTB-approved programme of education and training); have basic safety training and Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats; be assessed against the STCW standards; and hold a valid ENG1.
You apply to your local MCA marine office on form MSF 4310, and your EDH certificate is one of the documents you send with it.
On the Yacht Rating/Deck Hand testimonial in Annex A of MSN 1858, signed by the Master: your seagoing, stand-by and yard days (NIL where there were none), bridge watchkeeping done under the supervision of a certificated navigation officer, and a report on your conduct and ability.
Yacht rating applications ask for the original testimonials, with your discharge book, certificates of discharge or yacht service record book.
OOW (Yachts <3000 GT) needs 36 months' onboard yacht service since the age of 16, including at least 365 days' seagoing service on vessels of 15 metres or more. As we read section 5.1 of MSN 1858, which asks for service in the deck department onboard yachts, your deckhand service counts towards it — so the record you keep now is the one you will apply with.
Our advice: log it as it happens, not at application time, and bring the totals to your Master before you leave the vessel. Bridgedeck Logbook keeps watches, voyages and vessels on your phone, offline, counts sea days and days aboard separately, and exports an MCA-style PDF to bring to your captain. It supports your testimonials; it doesn't replace the signed ones.
The notices change. Always check the current version on GOV.UK before you apply or book.
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