Monday Morning Mariner: Deck Licenses

The Coast Guard's Proposed Rulemaking will make several changes to the Code of Federal Regulations to bring deck and engineering license requirements in the United States in line with the provisions of the STCW Convention and Code. Among the changes the new regulations would bring to the deck side:

• Requirement that crew serving on vessels without lifeboats acquire a new endorsement called "Survivalman."

• Eliminates the master or mate 200 gross registered tons/500 ITC tons license because of it's limited use and that fact that it's not used in STCW. Mariners who currently have that license would be able to renew it, but there will be no more new ones or upgrades to that license.

• The current weeks of classes and assessments are now called TEA, for Training, Education and Assessment. For unlimited licenses, the whole TEA regime would be required before issuance of a Third Mate Unlimited (unlike now, when some is require before 3M and some before Chief Mate). The Third Mate could move up to an unlimited Master's ticket with three years of sea service.

• Military personnel will have to jump through more hoops to get an corresponding civilian credential; the CO of a military ship will first have to serve as mate on the civilian side before getting his or her master's ticket.

• Deck officers will no long need an MMD endorsed Able Seaman (but a license is not a substitute for an AB if the mariner wants to sail in the capacity).

• The tonnage requirement for limited mates licenses is lowered to 75 tons. This is also true for limited masters tickets of 1600/3000 tons.

• Due to a quirk in the CFRs, it is currently possible to get a 500 or 1600 ton masters license with fewer classes/assessments than mates of an equivalent tonnage need. These regulations would close that loophole.

• When sailing foreign, mariners on American-built vessels operating at home under gross registered (domestic) tonnage would need a license qualifying them for the ITC tonnage of the vessel.

• There would be no changes for Inland licenses, but obviously rules like this would divorce the inland and near coast/oceans tracks more than they already are.

For the complete text of the Proposed Rulemaking, click here.

Next week: Changes for engineers.