I recently met someone who had just received their 200 ton Master of Tow. I have also seen companies advertising for captains with 200 Ton MOT or greater.
I didn’t know it was still possible to get that license. As I understand it we are required to take the steersman/mate/MOT route or get a 500 ton or larger with a TOAR.
Is there some loop hole allowing people to get a 200 ton with less experience or is this some type of additional tonnage limitation with the same seatime requirements?
I’m not up on recent changes, but I have come across people with Master of Towing 100 or 200.
If no limit is stated, I believe it’s still limited to 300 near coastal or oceans, or Inland any tonnage.
To serve on a towing vessel over 300 near coastal or ocean, you would need Master 500/1600, etc., plus Master of Towing.
Also, for a tug over 200 GRT, you need STCW II/2 for near coastal or oceans.
If you are going to operate in foreign waters (except Canada ), then you need an oceans endorsement
and STCW II/2. This rule is either unknown to many tug companies, or simply widely ignored.
Even if no tonnage limit is stated on the license, Master of Towing is legally limited to 200 tons near coastal, unless there is also STCW II/2 with a higher tonnage limit.
There maybe a few extra wrinkles to this, but I’ll leave those to the experts like @JDCavo