Rev. 0

REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO
MARITIME AUTHORITY
MAIN CONTACT: SAN MARINO SHIP REGISTER
PH: +378 (0549) 960075| FAX: +378 (0549) 941305| EMAIL: flagstate@smsr.sm

San Marino Policy Letter
SMPL – 2022-MLC-007
01 December 2022
San Marino Ship Register SMSR
Hours of work and hours of rest

TO: Recognised Organisations, Shipowners (Company), Managers, Masters, Seafarers, SMSR partners,
SMSR brokers, Surveyors, and the general public.

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REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO
MARITIME AUTHORITY
MAIN CONTACT: SAN MARINO SHIP REGISTER
PH: +378 (0549) 960075| FAX: +378 (0549) 941305| EMAIL: flagstate@smsr.sm

0. INTRODUCTION AND REFERENCES
This Policy Letter refers to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 as ratified by the San Marino Flag
Administration. It provides, in details, a guidance on compliance with San Marino regulations which giveeffect to the MLC 2006, Title 2.3.
1. PRICIPLES
Establishing either maximum hours of work or minimum hours of rest is essential in order to protect seafarers
against fatigue due to excessive demands on their time and to ensure in the interests of safety, that hours ofwork and overtime (even if voluntary), in particular, does not exceed levels that are compatible with the safeand efficient discharge of duties on board.
2. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
2.1 San Marino Administration Provisions
MLC 2006 requires that each Member State shall fix either a maximum number of hours of work, or minimum
number of hours of rest, for a given period of time for all seafarers. In keeping with this requirement, the San
Marino Flag Administration has established a minimum hours of rest standard which shipowner must comply.
“Hours of rest” means time outside hours of work and does not include short breaks. The minimum
requirement for hours of rest provided must be:1.

10 hours in any 24-hour period, which may be divided into no more than 2 periods, one of whichshall be at least 6 hours in length, and no more than 14 hours between any consecutive periods; and2. 77 hours in any 7 days period.
San Marino registered ships are required to follow these requirements.
2.2 Drills and periods on call
The shipowner shall ensure that musters, fire-fighting; lifeboat; security, oil-spill drills, enclosed space entry
and other emergency drills, safety & security exercises are conducted in such a manner so as to minimize thedisturbance of rest periods and not to induce fatigue. Thus, time spent in the aforementioned musters, drills
and exercises need not be included in normal hours of work or be regarded as overtime
The shipowner shall ensure that adequate compensatory rest period is provided if the normal period of rest
is disturbed for call-outs to work, such as when a machinery space is unattended, or for other unscheduled
work that was not anticipated at the commencement of the voyage. The compensatory rest period should
be added to the minimum rest hours required before the seafarer returns to work. The call-out to work andprovision of compensatory rest shall be clearly recorded.
2REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO
MARITIME AUTHORITY
MAIN CONTACT: SAN MARINO SHIP REGISTER
PH: +378 (0549) 960075| FAX: +378 (0549) 941305| EMAIL: flagstate@smsr.sm

2.3 Table of shipboard working arrangements
The shipowner shall post in an accessible place in the standardized format established by the Administration(annex I of this Policy Letter) or in the ILO/IMO model format, a table of shipboard working arrangements
containing the following information for every position on board the ship provided in English and the working
language of the ship:(a) position of the seafarer;(b) the schedule of service at sea and service in port; and(c) the minimum hours of rest
The comments section in the table of ship-board working arrangements may be used to indicate theanticipated number of hours to be devoted to unscheduled work and any such hours should be included inthe appropriate total daily work/rest hours column. Other forms of the tables of shipboard working
arrangements may be accepted provided the required information is included.
2.4 Recording hours of rest
The shipowner shall ensure that records of daily hours of rest are maintained in a standardised format asestablished by the Administration (annex II of this Policy Letter) or in the ILO/IMO model format, in English
and in the working language of the ship, to allow monitoring of compliance with the requirements statedabove. Although the records are marked at thirty (30) minute intervals in the model format, records withshorter intervals may be used for recording actual time worked or rested. Other forms of record keeping may
be accepted provided the required information is included. Any breaches or deviations of the hours of rest
must be shown and also any compensatory rest periods given in lieu or in advance of any unavoidable minor
deviations. Use of electronic record keeping systems, such as “ISF Watchkeeper” available on theInternational Chamber of Shipping website, are also acceptable provided they have the following features:
1. the format must be based on the ILO guidelines; 2. the electronic records must be accessible to all seafarer
and are secure from unauthorized alterations after entering; 3. there must be a means for the records to beendorsed by the seafarer and the Master; 4. there must be a means for the seafarer to receive a copy of theirhour of rest records; 5. the system must be available for inspection by San Marino Flag inspectors and port
state control officers.
The shipowner shall ensure that seafarers receive a copy of their records as referred to in 3.3.7 above,endorsed by the Master, or a person authorized by the Master, and by the seafarer at intervals not exceeding
one month. The records must be retained on board for each seafarer during the period of their employment
on board or for 12 months, whichever is longer.
2.5 Exceptions to minimum hours of rest
Any applicable collective agreement may permit an exception to the 77- hour rest in any 7-day period
provided:3

REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO
MARITIME AUTHORITY
MAIN CONTACT: SAN MARINO SHIP REGISTER
PH: +378 (0549) 960075| FAX: +378 (0549) 941305| EMAIL: flagstate@smsr.sma)b)c)d)the working pattern does not compromise the safety and security of the ship and the protection of
the marine environment;that the rest period is not less than 70 hours in any 7-day period;
such an exception from the weekly rest period shall not be allowed for more than two consecutiveweeks.
the intervals between two periods of exceptions on board shall not be less than twice the durationof the exception

Any applicable collective agreement may permit an exception to the two rest periods in any 24-hour period
provided:a)b)

the hours of rest in any 24-hour period may be divided into no more than three periods, one of whichshall be at least six hours in length and neither of the other two periods shall be less than one hourin length;
exceptions to the two rest periods in any 24-hour period shall not extend beyond two 24-hour periods
in any 7-day period and the intervals between consecutive periods of rest shall not exceed 14 hours.

Collective agreements permitting such exceptions above may take account of more frequent or longer leave
periods or the granting of compensatory leave for watch keeping seafarers or seafarers working on board
ships on short voyages. Shipowners desiring to implement such exceptions shall record this in the DMLC-II
under ‘Hours of work or rest’ for approval.
2.6 Master Authority
The master has the right to suspend the schedule of rest and require a seafarer to perform any hours of work
necessary for the immediate safety of the ship, persons on board or cargo, or for the purpose of giving
assistance to other ships or persons in distress at sea. As soon as practicable after the normal situation has
been restored, the master shall ensure that any seafarers who have performed work in a scheduled rest
period are provided with an adequate period of rest.
2.7 Shipowner obligations
The shipowner shall ensure that if there is a deviation from the schedule of service at sea and service in port,
an explanation for this deviation should be recorded. Deviation from the schedule is not an infringement,
provided the requirements for minimum hours of rest, including any applicable compensatory rest are being
adhered to. The shipowner shall ensure that there are procedures for on-board monitoring of the rest periodsof the seafarers. In case the breaches of the scheduled rest periods are frequent, demonstrating a nonadequate manning level, corrective action must be taken in the shortest time possible so that to restore thecompliance with the hours of rest.
2.8 Young seafarers
It is prohibited to employ seafarers having less than sixteen years of age.
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REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO
MARITIME AUTHORITY
MAIN CONTACT: SAN MARINO SHIP REGISTER
PH: +378 (0549) 960075| FAX: +378 (0549) 941305| EMAIL: flagstate@smsr.sm

1.

2.

3.
4.

At sea and in port the following provisions apply to all young seafarers under the age of 18:(a)working hours must not exceed eight hours per day and 40 hours per week and overtime
should be worked only where unavoidable for safety reasons;(b)sufficient time should be allowed for all meals, and a break of at least one hour for the main
meal of the day should be assured; and(c)a 15-minute rest period as soon as possible following each two hours of continuous work
should be allowed.
Exceptionally, the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Guideline need not be applied if:(a)they are impracticable for young seafarers in the deck, engine room and catering
departments assigned to watchkeeping duties or working on a rostered shiftwork system; or(b)the effective training of young seafarers in accordance with established programs andschedules would be impaired.
Such exceptional situations should be recorded, with reasons, and signed by the master.
Paragraph 1 of this Guideline does not exempt young seafarers from the general obligation on allseafarers to work during any emergency.
3. ANNEXES
Annex I: Shipboard Working Arrangement
Annex II : Record of Rest Hours

5MARITIME AUTHORITY

REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO

ANNEX I : Shipboard Working Arrangements

MARITIME AUTHORITY

REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO

ANNEX II : Record of Rest Hours

MARITIME AUTHORITY

REPUBLIC of SAN MARINO

ANNEX II : Record of Rest Hours