Rest hours on ferries
Ferries and tour boats are built around timetables. The timetable looks predictable. The working day often is not. Sickness cover, extra sailings, peak-season trips and crew moving between vessels can turn a simple schedule into a very different rest picture.
Quick Answer
Ferries and tour boats must still meet the applicable work and rest requirements for passenger-vessel crews. In Norway, the key limits are 10 hours of rest in any 24 hours and 77 hours in any 168 hours, with the applicable split-rest provisions. The timetable shows planned service; recorded work/rest data should show what actually happened.
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
A published route looks like a closed system. In practice the roster moves: multiple daily departures, peak periods, sickness cover, an extra evening sightseeing run, a deckhand who does the morning ferry and the afternoon tour boat. Split shifts around commuter peaks are exactly where the 6h/14h rest pattern can become difficult to maintain. Weekly rest can become difficult to maintain in July for the same reason: extra departures.
How it is documented
STCW A-VIII/1 requires daily records of rest hours for each seafarer, while section 24 sets the Norwegian rest-hour limits those records are checked against. The timetable is evidence of intended service, not of rest. Actual clock times belong in a digital rest-hour logbook.
What operators need to consider
Check the crew member across vessels within the organization. If a tour-boat charter is work, it belongs in the work/rest picture. Do not wait until inspection to rebuild a week from the poster at the dock. The numbers to check are 10h/24h and 77h/168h.
How MarRest handles it
MarRest records clock-in on a named vessel. Within the organization, rest follows the crew member. The app evaluates 24-hour rest at hourly checkpoints and 168-hour rest at daily/report checkpoints; alerts and what-if preview support review before the next watch. Monthly PDFs organize the record for inspection with account sign-off, subject to the applicable flag-state acceptance requirements. MarRest works without a separate roster product, while Vaktos can optionally publish the plan.