What STCW classes are needed for a 3rd mate unlimited license and what is the sea time needed to sit for this license?
3 years sea time, but not just any sea time. Rivers, for example, won’t count towards STCW certification. Details of that and the core classes needed for certification can be found here:
Basic Firefighting
Advanced Firefighting
Terrestrial Navigation
Celestial Navigation
Lifeboatman
Stability/Cargo Operations
First Aid/CPR
Electronic Navigation
ARPA
Meterology (I think)
Bridge Resource Management
I seem to think that there are 13 classes, but that could have just been what we took in school. There are probably more too, but I think those are all STCW requirements.
The seatime is 360 days, I believe, but that’s at the academy. For some reason I think that if you’re an AB you need 1080 days, but I don’t know where that number is in my head from, and I could very well be making it up.
You either have to graduate from an “approved program” or get three years of [U][I]acceptable[/I][/U] sea service. The only approved programs for 3rd Mate are the seven academies. Also, the courses are more than noted above. If you do not go to an approved program, you need to tale all of the courses noted ion Policy Letter 1-02 (http://www.uscg.mil/nmc/cfr/2001.pdf) and the following “ancillary” courses:
Basic Safety Training
Proficiency in Survival Craft
Medical Care Provider
Advanced Firefighting
Radar Observer
Flashing Light
Oo yea flashing light…I forgot about that little wonder.