I heard, probably falsely, that you can put 90 days of AB sea time towards getting your QMED rating, in addition to 90 days of wiper time of course. Any truth to that? was also wondering if you had to have your rfpew to get your QMED. Thanks
Never heard of that. 25% or 180 days (whichever is less) of deck sea service on vessels of the appropriate tonnage can be used for limited engineering licenses (DDE and Asst/Chief limited). 90 days of deck sea service can count towards 3/AE but I have not heard of that for QMED. Heck it is already only 180 days for QMED. But if you could use it why not. I just don’t know of that option.
You can get your QMED Oiler plus the other ratings w/o RFPEW but you will be limited to domestic service only. Other more experienced people might help with the deck time towards QMED. Why not apply that time toward a license? Have you got recency?
According to the checklist provided by the NMC’s website you must have 180 days in the engine department, serving at least in the position as wiper, to apply for a QMED rating.
The checklist is located here:
The checklist references 46 CFR 12.15-7 and that is located here:
There doesn’t appear to be any provision for using deck time in lieu of engineering time.
I would definitely suggest you get RFPEW along with QMED. It will open up a much greater range of opportunities for you and make it easier to advance to a licensed position later on. Certainly made my life easier.
Good luck to you.
1 Like