REQUIREMENTS · GALLEY
What Galley crew need on paper
Galley runs 4 ranks in this table, starting at crew cook or cook steward. The entry rank is set out in full below, and every rank above it has a page of its own. All of them carry the basics on top of what is listed for the rank.
START HERE
Crew cook or cook steward
The combined galley and interior berth on smaller yachts, roughly under 24 to 30 metres, and it is not a green crew job. Plus the basics.
MUST HAVE
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Cateringcourse
- VALID
- 3 years is the industry norm, applied as employer and provider policy rather than a stated MCA expiry.
- UNLOCKS
- Legally handling food in the galley. It binds interior crew who process food as much as it binds cooks.
SOURCE assets.publishing.service.gov.uk 19.08.2026
EXPECTED
- Prior galley or interior experienceadmin
- VALID
- No expiry.
- UNLOCKS
- A cook steward berth. The combined role is not recommended for green crew, so this is the real gate at entry.
SOURCE yotspot.com 19.08.2026
NICE TO HAVE
Nothing at this rank beyond the basics.
MORE RANKS IN THIS DEPARTMENT
FROM THE BRIDGE
- The Ship's Cook Certificate carries no expiry date, because it is an MLC certificate rather than an STCW one.
- The whole galley requirement switches on vessel facts, since a yacht only has to carry a qualified cook beyond sixty miles from a safe haven with ten or more seafarers aboard.
- The MCA rejects computer based food safety certificates, so an online only Level 2 course does not count.