Text size:

• Small
• Medium
• Large

Procedure for Keeping Logbooks, Engine Logbooks and Radio Logbooks and Recommended Formats thereof
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 - entry into force 04.04.2011]

Passed 10.03.2003 No. 43
RTL 2003, 37, 535
Entry into force 23.03.2003

Amended by the following legal instruments (show)

The Regulation is established on the basis of subsection 30 (7) of the Maritime Safety Act.

§ 1.  Scope of regulation

 (1) This Regulation establishes the procedure for keeping logbooks, engine logbooks and radio logbooks (hereinafter the logbooks) and the recommended formats thereof.

 (2) The data required under international conventions, for which no respective logbook for making entries has been prescribed, shall be entered in a logbook or in an engine logbook.
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

§ 2.  Logbook

 (1) A ship’s logbook is a document which records all activities carried out on the ship. The recommended format of a logbook is set out in Annex 4 to the Regulation.
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (2) In case of shipwreck, the master of the ship shall take measures to save the logbook.

 (3) The sheets or pages of a logbook shall be numbered.
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (4) [Repealed – RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (5) A completed logbook shall be preserved on the ship for one year. After that time period the logbook shall be deposited with the shipowner who shall preserve it for two years.
[RT I, 21.03.2017, 2 – entry into force 24.03.2017]

 (6) The master shall ensure that the logbook is filled out in a consistent manner.

§ 3.  Filling out logbook

 (1) The following entries shall be made in a logbook:
 1) day, month, day of the week, year;
 2) navigation area or names of the ports where the ship is bound to;
 3) time of the end of watch in hours and minutes;
 4) wind direction in rhumbs or degrees and wind force in knots according to Beaufort scale;
 5) wave direction in rhumbs or degrees and sea-force in knots, if there is ice, the ice coverage of the sea shall be indicated from 1 to 10 points;
 6) weather conditions in symbols and visibility in miles:
S – clear weather, cloud cover up to 5 points;
P – cloudy weather, cloud cover 5-10 points;
U – fog
V – rain
L – snow
R – hail
J – ice
UV – haze
 7) air pressure in millimetres or millibars;
 8) air temperature with the accuracy of 1°;
 9) sea water temperature with the accuracy of 1°;
 10) bilge water height in centimetres as at 08:00 according to the ship’s time. In case of major changes the results of any subsequent measuring shall be indicated;
 11) time of the beginning and end of watch in hours and minutes;
 12) the distance travelled during watch in miles, the distance travelled in twenty-four hours, the distance travelled since the beginning of the journey;
 13) name of the watch officer;
 14) name of the deck watchman or lookout;
 15) time of switching on and out the navigational lighting of the ship;
 16) ship’s stores in tons as at 08:00 according to the ship’s time;
 17) other events.
[RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (2) [Repealed – RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (3) [Repealed – RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (4) Entries concerning the life onboard, events and activities relating to the ship, cargo or crew shall be made in chronological order.

 (5) The time shall be indicated in four digits.

 (6) Navigational entries shall be made with one-minute accuracy, while other entries shall be made with up to five-minute accuracy.

 (7) Entries in a logbook may be made only by the master or watch officer who shall confirm the entries by their signature.

 (8) Entries shall be made in third person, concisely and in a specific manner.

 (9) It is prohibited to make entries using a pencil.

 (10) It is prohibited to delete or strike through any text. To make any corrections to a written text, the incorrect text shall be struck through in a single line and taken into brackets in such manner that it will be possible to read it. The watch officer of the ship shall make an entry regarding the correction in the text or at the bottom of the page and shall confirm it by their signature.

 (11) Any subsequent additions can be made in the column after the entries for 15 days and shall be confirmed by the master or watch officer by their signature.

 (12) Entries shall enable subsequent verification of the journey of the ship and activities of the crew. The support materials to be used are the tapes of navigation equipment and the course set out on the map.

 (13) Upon departure of the ship from a port, the following shall be entered in the logbook: number of the crew members, name and quantity of cargo, ship’s stores, draught, tilt, number of passengers, port of destination, name of the pilot, time of arrival and departure of the pilot, etc.

 (14) If the master is replaced, the entry shall be made in a chronological order, and the technical condition of the ship shall be indicated. The delivery and acceptance of the ship shall be confirmed by the signatures of the masters.

 (15) In case of accidents suffered by crew members or passengers, averages, assisting ships in distress, spoilt, damage or lost cargo, special attention shall be paid to the reporting of conditions and facts.

 (16) The master shall check the filling out of the logbook and shall confirm the entries by their signature at the bottom of each page.
[RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (17) These guidelines do not specify all entries to be made in a logbook. The shipowner and the master may determine the contents and extent of necessary entries at their discretion, to protect their interests.

 (18) The provisions of this section shall be added to the format of the logbook.

§ 4.  Engine logbook

 (1) An engine logbook is an accompanying document to the logbook which records the activities of the engine-room watch. The recommended format of an engine logbook is set out in Annex 5 to the Regulation.
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (2) In case of shipwreck, the chief engineer of the ship shall take measures to save the engine logbook.

 (3) The sheets or pages of an engine logbook shall be numbered.
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (4) [Repealed – RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (5) A completed engine logbook shall be preserved on the ship for one year. After that time period the engine logbook shall be deposited with the shipowner who shall preserve it for two years.
[RT I, 21.03.2017, 2 – entry into force 24.03.2017]

 (6) The master shall ensure that the engine logbook is filled out in a consistent manner.

§ 5.  Filling out engine logbook

 (1) [Repealed – RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (2) The following entries shall be made in a logbook:
 1) day, month, day of the week, year;
 2) navigation area or names of the ports where the ship is bound to.
[RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (3) Entries concerning the life onboard, events and activities relating to the shipboard installations or crew shall be made in chronological order.

 (4) The time shall be indicated in four digits.

 (5) Entries concerning shipboard installations shall be made with one-minute accuracy, while other entries shall be made with up to five-minute accuracy.

 (6) In case of two main propulsion units, the data concerning the right and left propulsion unit shall be set out as a fraction – the data of the left main propulsion unit shall be set out in the numerator, and the data of the right main propulsion shall be set out in the denominator.

 (7) [Repealed – RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (8) Entries in a logbook may be made only by the master, chief engineer and the watch engineer who shall confirm the entries by their signature.

 (9) Entries shall be made in third person, concisely and in a specific manner.

 (10) It is prohibited to make entries using a pencil.

 (11) It is prohibited to delete or strike through any text. To make any corrections to a written text, the incorrect text shall be struck through in a single line and taken into brackets in such manner that it will be possible to read it. An entry regarding the correction shall be made in the text or at the bottom of the page and shall confirmed with a signature.

 (12) Any subsequent additions can be made after the daily entries and shall be confirmed by the master or chief engineer by their signature.

 (13) Entries shall enable subsequent verification of the mode of operation of the ship’s propulsion systems and engineering watch.

 (14) In case of accidents with shipboard installations, special attention shall be paid to the reporting of conditions and facts.

 (15) The master shall check the filling out of the engine logbook and shall confirm the entries by their signature at the bottom of each left page.

 (16) These guidelines do not specify all entries made in an engine logbook. The shipowner and the master may determine the contents and extent of necessary entries at their discretion, to protect their interests.

 (17) The provisions of this section shall be added to the format of the engine logbook.

§ 6.  Radio logbook

 (1) A radio logbook is an accompanying document to the logbook which records the marine communication activities of the ship. The recommended format of a radio logbook is set out in Annex 3 to the Regulation.
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (2) The crew member holding the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) Certificate and designated by the master is responsible for the preservation and making entries into the radio logbook.
[RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

 (3) The radio logbook shall be kept at the place where radio watch is kept and it shall be submitted to authorized officials for checking.

 (4) The radio logbook entries connected with the DSC radio watch and information about the safety of navigation received by different communication systems shall be made by the crew member keeping radio watch.

 (5) The radio logbook entries regarding the technical maintenance of equipment shall be made by the officials assigned to perform this task.

 (6) The sheets or pages of a radio logbook shall be numbered.
[RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (7) [Repealed – RT I, 01.04.2011, 5 – entry into force 04.04.2011]

 (8) Entries shall be made on every line of the radio logbook in the working language on board and according to UTC. Local time may be used onboard ships engaged in domestic voyages in Estonia.

 (9) It is prohibited to make entries using a pencil.

 (10) An erroneous note shall be struck through with a single line and enclosed in brackets. If the error is noticed at once, the latter enclosed in brackets may be directly followed by the corrected note. Otherwise the corrected note shall be written right after the error has been noticed and confirmed by the signature. If more than one error has occurred the above correction procedure shall be used.

 (11) The master shall check the radio logbook entries every day and confirm a filled page by their signature.

 (12) The completed radio logbook shall be preserved on board for one year and after that it shall be deposited with the shipowner who shall preserve it for two years.
[RT I, 21.03.2017, 2 – entry into force 24.03.2017]

§ 7.  Filling out radio logbook

 (1) The radio logbook shall consist of three parts and appendices A and B.

 (2) The first part shall contain data about the ship and radio equipment.

 (3) The second part shall contain the data about the qualified radio personnel. The radio specialists responsible for technical maintenance of equipment and distress communication are pointed out separately.

 (4) The third part shall contain daily entries.

 (5) Appendix A shall contain data about the checking of equipment and sources of energy that shall be entered in the radio logbook.

 (6) Appendix B shall contain particular information about the radio equipment and interchangeable sources of energy maintained and checked by the undertaking holding the corresponding contract.

 (7) The following data shall be entered in the radio logbook:
 1) the time of switching on DSC radio watch installation (on ship’s departure from port)/ the time of switching off DSC radio watch installation (on ship’s arrival at port), data about the frequencies chosen. No separate entry is required on passenger ships operating on regular lines according to the definite schedule;
 2) at least once per 24 hours the results of checking the time;
 3) the results of equipment checks per day, week and month (according to Appendix A), (in case of using radio communication for checking, the name of the shore station shall be entered in the radio logbook);
 4) equipment failure and repair (reporting these to the master is obligatory);
 5) complete information relating to distress and urgency communication (record of ships participating in emergency communication, their data and position shall be entered in the radio logbook). The printed announcements relating to distress and urgency communication shall be registered in the logbook, bound and added in the end of the logbook;
[RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]
 6) the copies of weather forecasts and navigational warnings shall be kept in separate files and only their factual reception shall be entered in the logbook;
 7) in case of communicating with the correspondent the time shall be entered in four digits, the hours and minutes shall be separated by point;
 8) the call sign or other identification of the correspondent;
 9) the frequency used (channel, number of satellite);
 10) important incidents connected with the radio communication, for example:
- radio equipment failure or perceptible deterioration of operational qualities;
- interruptions in communicating with shore-stations, satellites or CES;
- disturbances at the reception of compulsory information caused by propagation;
- serious infringements of Radio Regulations by radio stations;
- all serious incidents connected with the commercial communication such as e.g.: different opinions about fares, loss of information and etc.;
 11) the numbers of received and transmitted telegrams;
 12) the position of the ship at least once per day (unless the shipowner has established a different procedure);
 13) the master’s instruction to the personnel responsible for emergency communication;
 14) additional information considered necessary by the shipowner.

 (8) The provisions of this section shall be added to the format of the radio logbook.

§ 7¹.  Electronic keeping of logbooks, engine logbooks and radio logbooks

 (1) Logbooks, engine logbooks and radio logbooks may be kept electronically provided that the person making the entries can be identified and the integrity of the entries is ensured.

 (2) If an electronic entry is changed, the original text shall remain visible.

 (3) An electronic entry shall be protected against deletion or destruction.

 (4) Subsections 2 (3), 4 (3) and 6 (6) of this Regulation shall not be applied to electronically kept logbooks, engine logbooks and radio logbooks.

 (5) If a logbook, engine logbook or radio logbook is kept electronically, the entries made shall be certified electronically. Upon electronic certification, the confirmation of an entry by a signature is not required.

 (6) The data of electronically kept logbooks, engine logbooks and radio logbooks shall be preserved pursuant to the procedure established by this Regulation.
[RT I, 21.03.2017, 2 – entry into force 24.03.2017]

§ 8.  Implementing provisions

 (1) The logbooks, engine logbooks and radio logbooks certified by the Maritime Administration before 28 May 2007 shall continue to be valid.

 (2) The logbooks, engine logbooks and radio logbooks printed before 28 May 2007 shall be certified at the Maritime Administration up until 30 September 2007.
[RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

Annex 1 [Repealed – RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

Annex 2 [Repealed – RTL 2007, 34, 590 – entry into force 28.04.2007]

Annex 3 Radio logbook

Annex 4 Logbook

Annex 5 Engine logbook