So a guy comes aboard today and after some discussion reveals that his latest Sea Service letter accounts for barge tonnage as well as vessel tonnage. His normal boat (he’s in for my deckhand until Wednesday) is pin unit/ITB married to a 100,000bbl petroleum tank barge. Other boats he’s worked on also have JAK couplers but are classed more as harbor boats but in this case (according to him as I haven’t laid eyes on the letter) the bunker barges were included as well.<br><br>Subsequent investigation in 46CFR reveals this:<br><br>(d) Service on a Dual Mode Integrated<br>Tug Barge (ITB) unit is creditable<br>for original or raise of grade of<br>any deck licenses. Service on a Dual<br>Mode ITB with an aggregate tonnage of<br>over 1600 gross tons is creditable on a<br>two-for-one basis (two days experience<br>equals one day of creditable service)<br>for up to 50 percent of the total service<br>on vessels over 1600 gross tons required<br>for an unlimited license. The remaining<br>required service on vessels of over<br>1600 gross tons must be obtained on<br>conventional vessels or Push Mode<br>ITBs.<br><br>I translate that to read that for tonnage calcs, only 50% of the time aboard counts. I.E. two week hitch, 7 days would count when <strong>calculating OVER 1600 tons. </strong>The rest of the time needs to be elsewhere.<br><br>My boat’s a wire boat, I routinely push over 7000 tons of product in push gear, yet my sea service letters have never mentioned anything of the barges I’ve pushed.<br><br>Is this a result of the fact that I only have wires or the size of the barge?<br><br>JT sends
<P>I believe if you have to use wires you are not considered an ITB or an ATB. Only a notch tug pushing a barge. You must be a composit unit. On a push mode only ITB you are allowed to count all of the tonnage for 100% of your time toward an unlimited license. This would be a tug like the Jacksonville or the Philadelphia. I believe TECO has one push mode only tug and barge.</P>