CHAPTER 1

SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Subject matter
Article 1
This Directive lays down the conditions and procedures for the certification of the qualifications of persons involved in the operation of a craft navigating on Union inland waterways, as well as for the recognition of such qualifications in the Member States.

Scope
Article 2
1
This Directive applies to deck crew members, liquefied natural gas experts and passenger navigation experts on the following types of craft on any Union inland waterway:
a
vessels having a length of 20 metres or more;
b
vessels for which the product of length, breadth and draught is a volume of 100 cubic metres or more;
c
tugs and pushers intended for:
1. towing or pushing vessels referred to in points (a) and (b);
2. towing or pushing floating equipment;
3. moving vessels referred to in points (a) and (b) or floating equipment alongside;
d
passenger vessels;
e
vessels required to have a certificate of approval pursuant to Directive 2008/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ;
f
floating equipment.
2
This Directive does not apply to persons:
a
navigating for sport or pleasure;
b
involved in the operation of ferries not moving independently;
c
involved in the operation of craft used by armed forces, forces maintaining public order, civil defence services, waterway administrations, fire services and other emergency services.
3
Without prejudice to Article 39(3), this Directive also does not apply to persons navigating in Member States with no inland waterways linked to the navigable network of another Member State and who are exclusively:
a
navigating limited journeys of local interest, where the distance from the departure point is at no time more than ten kilometres; or
b
navigating seasonally.

Definitions
Article 3
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:
1. ‘inland waterway’ means a waterway other than the sea, open to navigation by craft referred to in Article 2;
2. ‘craft’ means a vessel or item of floating equipment;
3. ‘vessel’ means an inland waterway vessel or seagoing ship;
4. ‘tug’ means a vessel specially built to perform towing operations;
5. ‘pusher’ means a vessel specially built to propel a pushed convoy;
6. ‘passenger vessel’ means a vessel constructed and equipped to carry more than 12 passengers;
7. ‘Union certificate of qualification’ means a certificate, issued by a competent authority, attesting that a person fulfils the requirements of this Directive;
8. ‘STCW Convention’ means ‘STCW Convention’ as defined in Article 1(21) of Directive 2008/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ;
9. ‘deck crew members’ means persons who are involved in the general operation of a craft navigating on Union inland waterways and who carry out various tasks, such as tasks related to navigation, controlling the operation of the craft, cargo handling, stowage, passenger transport, marine engineering, maintenance and repair, communication, health and safety, and environmental protection, other than persons who are solely assigned to the operation of the engines, cranes, or electrical and electronic equipment;
10. ‘radio operator’s certificate’ means a national certificate, issued by a Member State in accordance with the Radio Regulations annexed to the International Telecommunication Convention, authorising the operation of a radio-communication station on an inland waterway craft;
11. ‘passenger navigation expert’ means a person serving on board the vessel who is qualified to take measures in emergency situations on board passenger vessels;
12. ‘liquefied natural gas expert’ means a person who is qualified to be involved in the bunkering procedure of a craft using liquefied natural gas as fuel or to be the boatmaster sailing such a craft;
13. ‘boatmaster’ means a deck crew member who is qualified to sail a craft on the Member States’ inland waterways and is qualified to have overall responsibility on board, including for the crew, for the passengers and for the cargo;
14. ‘specific risk’ means a safety hazard that is due to particular navigation conditions which require boatmasters to have competences beyond what is expected under the general standards of competence for the management level;
15. ‘competence’ means the proven ability to use the knowledge and skills required by the established standards for the proper performance of the tasks necessary for the operation of inland waterway craft;
16. ‘management level’ means the level of responsibility associated with serving as boatmaster and with ensuring that other deck crew members properly perform all tasks in the operation of a craft;
17. ‘operational level’ means the level of responsibility associated with serving as boatman, as able boatman or as helmsman and with maintaining control over the performance of all tasks within that person’s designated area of responsibility in accordance with proper procedures and under the direction of a person serving at management level;
18. ‘large convoy’ means a pushed convoy for which the product of the total length and the total width of the pushed craft is 7 000 square metres or more;
19. ‘service record book’ means a personal register that records details of a crew member’s work history, in particular navigation time and journeys carried out;
20. ‘logbook’ means an official record of the journeys made by a craft and its crew;
21. ‘active service record book’ or ‘active logbook’ means a service record book or logbook which is open for recording data;
22. ‘navigation time’ means the time, measured in days, that deck crew members have spent aboard during a journey on a craft on inland waterways, including loading and unloading activities that require active navigational operations, which has been validated by the competent authority;
23. ‘floating equipment’ means a floating installation carrying working gear such as cranes, dredging equipment, pile drivers or elevators;
24. ‘length’ means the maximum length of the hull in metres, excluding rudder and bowsprit;
25. ‘breadth’ means the maximum breadth of the hull in metres, measured to the outer edge of the shell plating (excluding paddle wheels, rub rail, and similar);
26. ‘draught’ means the vertical distance in metres between the lowest point of the hull without taking into account the keel or other fixed attachments and the maximum draught line;
27. ‘seasonal navigation’ means a navigating activity which is exercised for not more than six months each year.
Directive 2008/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on the inland transport of dangerous goods (OJ L 260, 30.9.2008, p. 13).
Directive 2008/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the minimum level of training of seafarers (OJ L 323, 3.12.2008, p. 33).