Digital rest-hour logbook
A digital rest-hour logbook records actual work and rest hours for passenger vessel crews in a form that can support review before the next watch and be exported for inspection.
The record follows what the crew member actually worked — not only the published roster.
Quick Answer
A digital rest-hour logbook records actual work and rest for each crew member in a form that can be reviewed, electronically confirmed, and exported for inspection. It replaces paper work/rest sheets. Within the organization, the record follows the person across vessels and should match the day as it happened — not only the published roster.
Official Sources
- Sjøfartsdirektoratet: Arbeids- og hviletid for sjøfolk — Norwegian Maritime Authority guidance on work and rest hours for seafarers.
- STCW Code Section A-VIII/1: Fitness for duty — Official Norwegian publication of the STCW fitness-for-duty rest requirements.
- Ship Safety and Security Act (LOV-2007-02-16-9) — Section 24 sets the Norwegian minimum rest hours of 10h/24h and 77h/168h.
- ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) — Standard A2.3 covers maximum work hours and minimum rest hours.
Why it matters onboard
Passenger operations look orderly from the quay: a timetable, a published roster, a familiar crew. The day on board is messier. Someone covers a late sailing. A tour boat adds an evening trip. A deckhand works the morning on one vessel and the afternoon on another in the same company.
Paper work/rest sheets are usually filled in later, often from memory or from the roster. That is how records that do not reflect the actual day — as well as honest mistakes — enter the file. The rest-hour record has to match the day as it happened.
How it is documented
STCW Section A-VIII/1 requires records of each seafarer’s daily hours of rest to be maintained in a standardized format, in the working language or languages of the ship and in English, and endorsed by the master or a person authorized by the master and by the seafarer. Each seafarer is entitled to a copy of the records pertaining to them. MLC 2006 Standard A2.3 also requires daily records of hours of work or rest so compliance can be monitored. Section 24 of the Norwegian Ship Safety and Security Act sets the rest limits those records are checked against.
A usable digital record therefore holds, for each person:
- Actual work and rest periods, not only planned watches.
- The vessel where the work happened, when crew move around.
- Corrections with who changed what, and when.
- Endorsement by the seafarer and master, with a copy the seafarer can keep.
The roster can feed the day. It must not replace the record.
What operators need to consider
The parent topic is passenger vessel rest-hour compliance: the legal requirements refer to any applicable 24-hour or 168-hour period and the 6h/14h split-rest structure. MarRest evaluates 24-hour rest at hourly checkpoints and 168-hour rest at daily/report checkpoints. Those results only mean something if the underlying record reflects actual hours.
The rest-hour record needs to be available for inspection in the form accepted by the applicable flag-state rules. Rest reports provide the monthly export with account sign-off; clock-in is how the day is recorded.
How MarRest handles it
MarRest is that digital rest-hour logbook. Crew clock in and out on a named vessel. Within the organization, rest follows the person across vessels. Rest-hour alerts and a what-if preview use the same recorded data so a captain can review the situation before assigning the next watch. Monthly rest reports provide names and account sign-off; they are not PKI digital signatures. MarRest works on its own. A roster product is optional.