I have a near coastal,inland TOAR with 1600 ton NC mate. USCG evaluator responded to my application saying i needed to show 30 days of observation in NC waters for the NC endorsement. I reattached a letter of my seatime explaining i work on a ship assist vessel in sabine pass. Daily we bring ships in from passed the seabuoy and demarcation line. would i have to submit a certain form for this or is my seatime letter and explanation sufficient
Im applying for Mate of towing (pilot) NC
Fill out the near coastal toar ? What does your sea letter say inland ?
I have the near coastal TOAR. My sea letter doesnt specify what waters you are on.
Well what routes are permitted on the coi, have them rewrite the sea letter with NC I’ve never seen a letter that didn’t state nc inland or oceans
I have no idea what the coi states. my seatime letter stated " all seatime consists of 12 hours in offshore waters"
thats it. The reason for my question.
“Offshore waters” isn’t an official designation and I’m surprised the company writes the letters like this. Ask the company to rewrite using official language.
I’m curious what ship needs an assist tug from the sea buoy in Sabine.
LNG?
No.
Past the demarcation line? Yes.
It’s probably Chouset.
I experienced a similar problem few years ago. The correct language needs to be in the sea letter like captphoenix said and thats most likely the issue your evaluator has.
I applied for master of tow oceans few years ago, and when i submitted i had a near coastal/oceans toar but my seatime was predominantly on ship assist tugs on inland waters. To resolve the issue my port captain wrote an ammendum to my sea letter saying that daily we crossed the line of demarcation daily. I changed my application to master of tow near coastal and got issued that.
A year later, i applied to upgrade to 1600 grt master and my evaluator called me to tell me that i should have been issued master of tow oceans the year before and that my previous evaluator incorrectly tallied my time. Go figure.
You don’t know what the COI states on the boat you work on?
Feels like a loaded question but no sir I do not.
Not really a loaded question but a leading one. The COI lays out a lot of regulatory information.
Vessel manning levels, vessel routes and route limitations, tonnage etc.
Parts of the COI are the foundation for your sea letter.
A photo of the document with your smart phone is a something I recommend.
Especially with possibility that in the future you need to discuss the subject with the HR Department or a USCG evaluator.
I currently hold a deckhand position I was under the impression COI was the amount of people needed onboard. Stepping into this mate position soon this is valuable information the more you know, yanno? if i was onboard trust me I’d be reviewing it as we speak
Yes. The amount, and what ratings/licensing required. Also specifies waters and/or routes the vessel is allowed on, and what the manning is required for the route.
If you are on one of the tugs i suspect you are on, your boat requires more people when its doing a transit to a different port.
COI = Certificate of Inspection
Minimum required manning is one of the things on there but that’s not the extent of what’s on a COI.