AB Special

Does anyone know if you can sail AB with a union as an AB Special?
Wondering if AB Limited is the requirement or if AB Special will suffice?

Is this for deep sea or inland/near coastal?
It will suffice but to sail deep sea/ vessels above 500GT you need STCW Able Seafarer - Deck endorsement, otherwise you can pretty much use the AB Special ticket for an asswipe only.

Is the amount of qualifying seatime still 360 for Able Seafarer Deck?

No, you need sea time while qualified as RFPNW.

It’s either 18 months or 12 months in an approved program, bboth have to be while qualified as RFPNW. So you would first need to get the 6 months of time for RFPNW and complete the assessments. Note that “while qualified as RFPNW” does not mean you need to have held RFPNW. You will have qualified for RFPNW on either the last day of the 6 months of service, or completing the last RFPNW assessment, whichever happens later. So if you finish your RFPNW assessments and sea time in the middle of your time on a vessel, you can still start the clock on AS-D.