Sportbootführerschein See

The Sportbootführerschein See (SBF See), is a German official pleasure-craft licence for the operation of sport boats with engine propulsion on the German sea waterways. It is part of the unified German Sportbootführerschein system introduced in 2017, in which the respective scope of validity is recorded on a single licence card.

Legal basis

The legal basis of the Sportbootführerschein See is the German Sportbootführerscheinverordnung (Sport Boat Licence Ordinance). Under that ordinance, anyone wishing to operate a sport boat with engine propulsion on the German sea waterways requires a licence, which is evidenced by the Sportbootführerschein with the scope of validity Seeschifffahrtsstraßen.

The current unified Sportbootführerschein ordinance entered into force on 10 May 2017 and replaced the earlier separate ordinances for inland and sea licences. Since then, there has been a single licence document on which one or both scopes of validity, inland and sea waterways, may be recorded.

Scope

According to official federal information, the Sportbootführerschein with the scope of validity Seeschifffahrtsstraßen is required for the private operation of sport boats with engine propulsion of more than 11.03 kW when using an internal-combustion engine or more than 7.5 kW when using an electric motor on the German sea waterways. The licence applies without a length limit and exclusively to sport and leisure craft used for private purposes.

ELWIS also states that the card is issued as an International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft under UNECE Resolution No. 40. Previously issued German sport boat licences remain valid.

Requirements

Under the ordinance, an applicant for a Sportbootführerschein for engine-powered sport boats must be at least 16 years old, medically fit, reliable, and must have demonstrated the required competence by passing an examination. Applicants under the age of 18 require the consent of their legal representative.

Medical fitness must be certified by a physician in accordance with the ordinance. Reliability may be denied in particular in cases involving serious offences against navigation safety or repeated infringements of navigation rules.

Examination

The competence required for the Sportbootführerschein See must be demonstrated in an examination. Under the ordinance, the examination normally consists of a theoretical part and a practical part. The individual parts may be taken at different times and before different examination committees, including those of the other delegated association.

The details of the theoretical and practical examination are laid down in the annexes to the ordinance. To pass, all parts of the examination must be completed successfully within one year from the first part-examination. A failed part may not be repeated on the same day.

Since the 2017 reform, theory and practice examinations may be taken at different times and places, and sea-scope examinations may be taken before all examination committees of the German Sailing Association, including abroad.

Administration

The administration of the Sportbootführerschein system is delegated by the federal authorities to the Deutscher Segler-Verband and the Deutscher Motoryachtverband. Examination committees of these associations conduct the examinations and issue the licence on behalf of the state under the governing ordinance.

Position in the German certification system

The Sportbootführerschein See is the basic official German licence for engine-powered sport boats on sea waterways. Together with the Sportbootführerschein Binnen, it forms the entry level of the German recreational licensing system. Within that system, it precedes more advanced voluntary sea-going qualifications such as the Sportküstenschifferschein, the Sportseeschifferschein, and the Sporthochseeschifferschein.

Unlike the advanced sea-going certificates, the Sportbootführerschein See is a mandatory legal licence within its scope of application rather than merely a higher-level qualification.