Chief Unlimited HP/Near Coastal

I have a 3rd A/E Unlimited license. I want to get my Chief Engineer Unlimited Hp/near coastal. Has anyone out there gotten this endorsement from 3 A/E? I am pretty sure it comes with the 2nd A/E license if requested, but I am wondering if I can get it before I get my seconds?? Any light on the subject would be appriciated!

You must have ment Chief Engineer “Limited”, correct?

46 CFR 1-40 Has a table in it showing deck and engine license structure.
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov

I am pretty sure you need at least 1 year sea time on your 3rd’s to qualify for the crossover exam.

One year as (any) licensed engineer to test for C/E (Ltd) NC.
C/E Ltd oceans is 2 years (any) license.
Ltd NC comes with 2AE.
Ltd oceans comes with1AE.

Cheng, is that under a new licensing/testing scheme? A ChEngLtd Oceans friend of mine studied/tested long and hard to get his 1AE

I don’t suppose anyone here knows why the USCG in the wisdom catagorizes engineer’s licenses as ocean or near coastal? The machinery is exactly the same either way!
Go figure!

If you look at the license structure diagram for engineers in 46 CFR - Part 10 it shows a crossover route from C/E - Limited (NC) to 3rd A/E - Unlimited after 12 months of 8-hour days (8 months of 12-hour days) of service as C/E - Limited which, coincidentally, is the exact same amount of service time required to go from 3rd A/E - Unlimited to 2nd A/E - Unlimited. It does <strong>not</strong> show the reverse as being true but that <strong>may</strong> still be the case. Or maybe you have to go from 3rd A/E to 2nd A/E and ask for the endorsement at the same time. Either way it’s worth looking into. You can call the National Maritime Center at 1-888-427-5662 or email them your question at iasknmc@uscg.mil , although I have no clue how long it will take to get an answer. Click here to read the text of the sea-time requirements for the engineering licenses in the CFR.

Thanks for the info everyone!!!

So are the engineers dealing with the same problems finding a hitch as the deck folks? I’ve seen plenty of posts here about 500 or even 1600 guys having to take an AB hitch. Are engineers feeling the same pinch?

In my experience, engineers are like bass players, they never have to beg for a gig.