What you need to perform it
Primary qualification
- Proven trade background in industrial laundry (hotel, hospital or maritime); in Spain the training reference is the professional certificates in laundry/textile care and the housekeeping-and-linen training (e.g. HOTA0108 — as a guide, verify current code).
- Usual route: internal promotion Laundry Attendant → Supervisor → Laundry Master, mastering the machinery (tunnel washers, ironers, industrial dryers) and the supplier's chemical programme (Ecolab, Diversey or others per line).
Basic STCW
- STCW A-VI/1 Basic Safety Training.
- STCW A-V/2 crowd management per muster list.
- Valid seafarer medical certificate per flag.
Specific courses
- Safe handling of laundry chemicals: automatic dosing, safety data sheets (SDS), CLP labelling (COSHH with UK operators).
- Laundry fire prevention: lint filter and duct cleaning integrated in the ship's maintenance plan (SOLAS II-2 as the fire-protection framework — as a guide).
- First-line maintenance of ironers, dryers and tunnel washers, with lockout-tagout (LOTO) for jams.
- Hotel linen management: par stock, sorting, rejection and the ship's tailoring shop.
- Handling of contaminated linen and GI outbreak protocols per USPH/VSP and sanitation plans (as a guide).
Indicative experience
As a guide: 5+ years in industrial laundry and 2+ shipboard contracts before the post; on a large cruise ship the role leads a team of 15-30 processing several tonnes of textiles a day, around the clock. Each line sets its own minimums.
Observations
Typical route: Laundry Attendant → Supervisor → Laundry Master → Executive Housekeeper or hotel management. Two risks rule: lint in ducts (cleaned on a strict, verifiable schedule within the maintenance plan) and self-combustion of oil- or grease-impregnated textiles folded while hot —a documented cause of shipboard fires—: cool before folding, no exceptions. USPH/VSP audits reach the linen circuit (clean/soiled separation and handling of GI outbreak linen — as a guide).
What this role does
A critical yet invisible area: lint build-up in ducts and self-ignition of oil-impregnated textiles stacked while still hot are real causes of onboard fires. The Laundry Master combines continuous industrial production, fire safety and chemical management, with a large team working shifts below the hotel's waterline.
Typical watches
- 24h rotating shifts — laundry never stops
Key responsibilities
- Process tonnes of bed linen, towels, table linen, uniforms and guest laundry daily.
- Prevent fire risk: scheduled cleaning of lint filters and ducts and maintenance of the industrial machinery.
- Manage wash chemicals (automatic dosing, SDS sheets) and textile finishing quality.
- Control linen par stock, rotation and losses together with the executive housekeeper.
- Apply soiled-linen protocols during gastrointestinal outbreaks per the ship's sanitation plans.
Operational scope
- Ship's industrial laundry, linen stores
Profile reviewed by HydroAbyss (2026). Cited rules and timeframes are indicative: the final requirement is set by the flag State, the Administration and each company.