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FAQ

How can I obtain my general and/or limited sailing licence?

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A sailing licence is the ‘Driving Licence’ for steering ships in Belgian shipping routes.

There are two types of sailing licences:

  • Holders of a limited sailing licence may sail everywhere in Belgium except for the Beneden-Zeeschelde;
  • Holders of a general sailing licence may sail in all Belgian inland waters.

There are four requirements:

  • The applicant must be at least 17 years of age. The licence is not granted until the applicant is at least 18 years of age.
  • The applicant must be physically fit. He or she must undergo a medical examination with a doctor of his or her own choice. The doctor examines the candidate’s general health and tests vision and hearing.
  • There is a theory examination. This examination tests the candidate’s knowledge of sailing regulations in the water, manoeuvres, safety regulations, navigation etc. The candidate is not obliged to follow a course. You will find the examination dates in the ‘Agenda’ section.
  • The candidate must have practical experience. He or she sails together with someone who holds a sailing licence and teaches the candidate to sail by providing practical experience. If you have had at least twelve hours of practical experience, hand in your service log book to the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Transport, which issues the licence! You can obtain a licence even sooner. If you take a practical training course at a sailing school, six hours of practical experience are enough. The federation can give you all the required information.

Foreign pleasure sailors: a number of foreign licences are equivalent to the limited or general sailing licence.

There is a brochure (not available in English at present) published by the Ministry of Transport (original Dutch title: ‘Vademecum voor de pleziervaart’) which you can download (pdf – 4.8Mb) here or order via our ‘Downloads and publications’ section.