Plan the handover around the rotation
This guide covers the sequence around a crew rotation: prepare the record before departure, plan the overlap, review it during the change, and follow up afterwards. Use it to organise the transfer of knowledge alongside joining arrangements. It does not replace company instructions or port-specific joining requirements.
Before, during, and after crew change
- Before the rotation: confirm who is leaving, who is joining, which duties transfer, and who coordinates the handover.
- Before departure: capture open work, local knowledge, documents, and follow-up contacts while the outgoing person is available.
- Plan the overlap: identify which systems or locations need a joint walk-through and when it can take place.
- During the change: prioritise urgent open items and questions the incoming crew cannot answer from the record.
- At sign-off: record remaining gaps, named owners, contact arrangements, and the agreed final version.
- After joining: check the assigned follow-ups and update the working record without overwriting the signed handover version.
Use the overlap time deliberately
Build the record before travel and departure compress the available time.
Use the overlap for clarification and demonstrations, rather than writing everything from memory.
Keep a short follow-up list with named owners after the outgoing crew leaves.
Prepare for a shortened overlap
Weak handover
We'll explain it when the replacement arrives.
Useful handover
Illustrative example; not a customer vessel record.
The outgoing crew uploaded the open-item register before departure. The overlap is reserved for the steering-flat walk-through and two unresolved questions. The department lead owns the follow-up if the overlap is shortened.
Allocate the overlap to the questions that need both people
Prepare the document before the incoming crew arrives. Mark the items that need a joint visit, demonstration, or explanation: unfamiliar equipment locations, unfinished work, and decisions whose reasoning is missing from the job history. Give those items priority over reading out information already in the record.
- Before departure: gather the open-job list, current procedures, attachment references, and shore contacts.
- During overlap: compare the written status with what both people can observe and record differences.
- At departure: retain the reviewed version, outstanding questions, and agreed follow-up contacts.
- After joining: carry new information into the working job record and keep the signed handover intact.
When travel delays remove the overlap
Tell the person coordinating the rotation which duties and checks have not been transferred. Arrange the review and familiarisation through the company’s procedure. Record who will resolve each gap and how the incoming crew can reach them. A document can preserve context, but it cannot confirm that an inspection or demonstration happened when it did not.
About this guidance
Prepared by PassLog editorial. The examples are fictional and the checklists must be adapted to the vessel and company procedures. Use the vessel’s approved procedures for operations, familiarisation, and watchkeeping.
Send corrections or questions about this guide to [email protected]. For the international safety-management framework, see the IMO overview of the ISM Code. It provides context for company procedures; it does not endorse this checklist.
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Create the handover record in PassLog
Add voice notes, photos, written notes, and documents. PassLog generates your handover. Review the details with the incoming crew, then sign the PDF.
Resources
Crew handover checklist
A final review checklist for the moment duties change hands. Check that the incoming crew can find the information, access, and follow-up contacts they need.
Maritime handover template
Use these fields to understand what belongs in a handover. Add your notes, photos, and documents in PassLog to generate the report, then review and sign it.
Yacht crew handover
Organise a yacht rotation by department and connect the responsibilities shared between engineering, deck, and interior crew.