Life
After
Yachting

Land Ahoy

Looking to set up a life back home or get out of yachting? Here you will find some help. 

Getting out

Getting out of yachting with no plan is quite difficult. Referred to as the golden handcuffs, the same money that can be made in yachting is more difficult to find when you go shore based and on top of that you realise how much toilet paper actually costs. In some instances, people come back to the industry because the money is just too good, and they need to come up with a different plan to get out. 

Another option, and what a lot of yachties do after getting out, is stay within the industry, but are employed in a different sector. These include: 

  • Sales
  • Recruitment
  • Management
  • Temping
  • Small, day trip boats
  • Education

You meet people in these sectors throughout your career and an opportunity to be employed by one of them could present itself at any time. 

As this industry is growing faster every year, more business ideas keep popping up and growing with it. These ideas could come together over a beer at a bar, in the shower between shifts, a random message from a friend asking to get involved (Yachties of Australia) or staring blankly out to sea. But these ideas could be a business, and a way out. And, just like every other product geared towards yachts, it can be marked up substantially. You also have the opportunity to start the business while still being employed either after work or while you are off on rotation, start it out as a side hustle and build it to a full-time career. 

What should be taken away from this, if you don’t already have a plan, is start thinking sooner rather than later about away to get out if this isn’t a lifetime career for you, because for the majority of us it isn’t. 

Purchasing Property in Australia

Yachties of Australia have established partnerships with professionals, based in Australia, that understand and specialise in expats and persons working overseas, including superyacht crew, that wish to purchase property in Australia. So, if you are a yachtie looking to expand into the property market and need a helping hand in doing so, fill out the form below and we can give more information and make the introductions.

You have been in the industry for a few years now, saved a bit of cash and your bank account is starting to look healthy. It’s time to start your property portfolio, whether it be a personal residence for you to live in or a commercial or residential investment as a second source of income.

Before you start looking through the real estate websites and using basic online loan calculators, there a few things to consider:

Your tax status in Australia, are you meeting your obligations:

Are you obligated to pay tax to the ATO or have you met the very difficult criteria of becoming a non-tax residence? See Life While Yachting – Tax where there is a breakdown of the rules and provided links to work out your own status.

 

The amount that can be borrowed, can you service this amount and the deposit needed:

A mortgage broker is your next stop in buying a property, they will be able to approach multiple lenders and be able to present a number of options depending on you situation. 

Here are some basic points that will affect the amount you can borrow: 

  • Lenders can require up to 30% deposit on the total value of the property.
  • If you earn foriegn income, lenders can and will shave a percentage off your monthly wage. 
  • Your monthly expenses can be next to $0 per month while working, but lenders apply a minimum amount no matter what. 
  • You will need to provide proof of employment, with a minimum of three months of payslips.
  • Is it an investment property or principle place of residence. 
  • Will you require lenders insurance. 
  • Are you an Australian resident. 

These are all questions that our specialised broker will be able to answer for you and provide additional information. 

 

Know the property market and the areas you can potentially buy in – Buyers’ Agent.

A buyers agent represents the buyer of a property. Services that they provide include searching for the property (including off market listings), attending inspections, putting in offers and negotiations and helping make the entire process as smooth as possible. They are there to essentially understand your long-term goals and take the stress and uncertainty out of the entire process, finding the best deal possible in the location you desire.

Wanting More Property Information

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Wealth Management

Coming Soon

 

MCA to AMSA

Now that you are returning back to Australia and are thinking about transferring your international CoCs to the AMSA equivalent or recognition certificate there is a few things that need to be understood and considerations to be made before hand. This information is for both Deck and Engineer Officers and was sourced directly from the AMSA website and via email with customer service officers from AMSA. 

AMSA International and Domestic Qualifications

AMSA have both international and domestic qualifications and are fairly straight forward. the domestic qualifications are generally restricted for use within the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Domestic Commercial Vessels (DCV’s), where the international qualifications issued by AMSA allow seafarers to work on Regulated Australian Vessels (RAV’s) in international waters. 

Countries recognised by AMSA 

Australia currently has an agreement with 31 countries that allows you to get a Certificate of Recognition (CoR) for your STCW qualifications. These countries include the UK, USA, South Africa and New Zealand where most yachties complete their CoCs. This is a recognition of an international qualification which in turn will have a domestic equivalency.

Equivalencies – Marine Order 505

Depending on which CoC route you took in terms of <3000 Yachts or Unlimited will determine what equivalency you will have in Australia. This information is within AMSA Marine Order 505 – Certificates of Competency. This order outlines the different international qualifications and what its domestic equivalent is. Unfortunately, the <3000 Yacht CoCs do not transfer well when it comes to the AMSA domestic qualifications. For example, a Master <3000 (Y) and Chief Mate <3000 (Y) transfers to a Coxswain Grade 1 near coastal, which allows you to command and operate a vessel less than 12 metres with unlimited outboard engine propulsion or inboard engines less than 500 kilowatts. Whereas the unlimited tickets convert to the domestic qualification quite reasonably, for example, Chief Mate Unlimited or <3000GT commercial CoC transfers to Master of a commercial vessel less than 24 metres within EEZ. 

AMSA do have international qualifications for yachting, so you can transfer your yachting CoC to an AMSA CoR international qualification such as MCA OOW <3000(Y) to AMSA OOW <3000(Y) so you can work on Australian regulated yachts.

Marine Order 505 has a table of all certification and its equivalencies should you require more information in regards to your particular CoC, Click Here 

AMSA Sea Service Assessment

The next step if you wish to continue transferring your international CoC to AMSA CoR is confirming your sea service with a Sea Service Assessment, this is much like the process that PYA or Nautilus complete when confirming your sea service testimonials for the MCA. 

This is done through AMSA Form 419 – International Seafarer Certificates which can be found online. It requires that the seafarer have letters of ‘Confirmation of Sea Service’ that have been completed by the shipping company they have worked for and cannot be completed by the master. This letter has all the basic information about the seafarer, the vessel and confirming days at sea. For template of the letter and instructions on how to fill it out: Click Here

Please note that AMSA calculates sea service differently to the MCA, a section from AMSA Marine Order 74 – Master and Deck Officers Yachts, schedule 3, states: 

“3.2 – Qualifying seagoing service is calculated as follows:

  • If the person is undertaking master or deck officer duties for at least 8 hours in a 24-hour period, the sea service is taken to be served as a whole day,
  • If the person is undertaking master or deck officer duties for less than 8 hours in a 24-hour period, the sea service is taken to be for the actual hours served plus 25% of that time. 

3.3 – For clause 3.2, sea service calculated to be at least 8 hours in any 24-hour period is taken to be served as a whole day and no more than a whole day.”

So, you may have to re-calculate your sea service to comply with the AMSA regulations.  

Pass An Oral

That’s right, you have to sit another oral. Once you have a positive sea service assessment the next thing is passing an oral exam in Australia before applying for your Certificate or Recognition. 

Syllabus of the exam for both domestic and international qualifications: Click Here

Information, fees and booking the exam: Click Here

Applying for a CoR

You are now at the final stages of transferring your CoC to a CoR, and this is done with an application through AMSA Form 419 (used when applying for the Sea Service Assessment).

Once the form has been completed and approved you will be issued the CoR for an AMSA international qualification. This does not automatically give you your domestic qualification and you will have to apply for that with AMSA Form 426 which gives you an option to request an equivalent to the international qualification. 

Please note that a CoR is only valid for the time that your CoC is valid or 5 years, whichever comes first and to renew your CoR you first must renew your CoC. 

An Alternative

There is one, but it is more difficult… You can apply for an AMSA CoC so that you do not have to renew your international CoC. This is done with an application of recognition of prior learning (RPL) from a registered training authority in Australia. This involves beginning the process of applying for a new certificate from the beginning by contacting a training authority to request RPL, allowing you to skip parts of or potentially the entire course they provide as you have already completed it overseas. Once you have done this for every relevant course, you sit an oral exam as above and then apply for the AMSA CoC. 

*This information was sourced directly from the AMSA website and via email with customer service officers at AMSA.

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