Am I legally aloud to work on my boat without the office having copies of my MMC?

Professional Mariner Forum
1

In September I passed my 3rd Mate Unlimited license and with my luck, my MMC and copy of my license were suppose to be sent from the NMC in WV on September 30, 2013 to SUNY. Well needless to say they did not send it out on the 30th and they shutdown on the 1st as we all know. I waited patiently in my job search but had to get on a boat with bills starting to pile up so I took a job but do not have a copy of my MMC yet. I told the office this and they asked if I thought I would have it by Wednesday’s crew change and I told him I hoped and he said we will figure it out.

My question for you guys is am I aloud to work on the boat without the office having copies of my MMC? Can I somehow show proof that I am waiting for my upgrade or have the NMC send a scanned copy to the office? If so how would I go about getting them to do so? Keep in mind that I lost my Z-Card in May and never got a new copy, otherwise I would have just showed them my old one and explained everything I was waiting for my upgrade.

Thanks in advance for any help or knowledge you all can share.

  • Smee
2

As far a proving what you have, they can go to the address below for MMC verification. The legal part of having your documents in hand I’ll leave for someone else to comment on.

https://homeport.uscg.mil/mycg/portal/ep/channelView.do?channelId=-35921&channelPage=%2Fep%2Fmmld%2FMMCVSearchBody.jsp&pageTypeId=13489

I guess “prove” is a strong term in lieu of physical documents. It’s more like showing them you are not feeding them a line of shit.

3

The office doesn’t need to have a copy, YOU do though. (There is a legal requirement to have your original document onboard.)

4

Whether they do it by the verification web site, or by a copy of the MMC, the office needs to comply with 46 CFR 15.401 and should verify that you hold the appropriate MMC endorsements.

§ 15.401 Employment and service within restrictions of credential.
A person may not employ or engage an individual, and an individual may not serve, in a position in which an individual is required by law or regulation to hold a license, certificate of registry, merchant mariner’s document, transportation worker identification credential, and/or merchant mariner credential, unless the individual holds all credentials required, as appropriate, authorizing service in the capacity in which the individual is engaged or employed and the individual serves within any restrictions placed on the credential. Beginning April 15, 2009, all mariners holding an active license, certificate of registry, MMD, or MMC issued by the Coast Guard must also hold a valid transportation worker identification credential (TWIC) issued by the Transportation Security Administration under 49 CFR part 1572.

5

I have a picture of the front and back of my Z-Card. I am wondering if this would be sufficient.

6

You would not be allowed to join one of my company’s vessels without

1.) providing a copy of all needed valid mariner’s certifications, any special certifications related to the position for which you are employed and your current and up to date physical prior to dispatch, and;

2.) producing the 100% valid and verifiable originals of these upon arrival aboard.

End. Full stop.

Do not even begin to prepare to commence to start to think about bothering to travel unless you can satisfy both 1 & 2 above.

You describe a problem, and as regular people, we sympathize. But any sympathy for your problems ends exactly where our legal obligations begin.

We care about our port state control, our insurance warranties and our charters, and since we tell (that is contractually or legally obligate ourselves to) all these people that we only will employ people that have the necessary certifications (see jdcavo above), and then we agree to pay you wages and benefits based on your performing services while having the aforementioned necessary and vital certifications, it is a fact that our problems count more to us, our customers and regulators - than your problems.

Should you dare to show up knowing your are not certificated (that is you have somehow wanked us), your CV and your application goes on the banned list. For Life.

Welcome to the Maritime Industry. We hope you enjoy the trip. We are here for your safety and comfort.

Good luck. If you do not have your certs due to ANY reason, we respectfully suggest you release your seatbelt and proceed to the nearest exit, taking your luggage with you. A gate agent can assist. Upon de-planing, call dispatch immediately and advise them unfortunately it appears you are unavailable for a short time due to factors beyond your control.

One can at least respect the honesty, and try to work around the situation like adults, no wailing and gashing of teeth needed. If a company fires you for being honest with them, it isn’t the right place to work.

However, if we catch the crew department dispatching people on a seafarer’s promise that necessary certs will (at some undefined future time) be in hand, THEY are 200% screwed for violating company policy.

Good luck, and we wish you continued success in your future endeavors.

7

Uh, I don’t think so. What if you lost your diver’s license? Think a photo copy of that would be ok with the cop that stopped you?

8

Good point.

      • Updated - - -

[QUOTE=+A465B;122952]You would not be allowed to join one of my company’s vessels without

1.) providing a copy of all needed valid mariner’s certifications, any special certifications related to the position for which you are employed and your current and up to date physical prior to dispatch, and;

2.) producing the 100% valid and verifiable originals of these upon arrival aboard.

End. Full stop.

Do not even begin to prepare to commence to start to think about bothering to travel unless you can satisfy both 1 & 2 above.

You describe a problem, and as regular people, we sympathize. But any sympathy for your problems ends exactly where our legal obligations begin.

We care about our port state control, our insurance warranties and our charters, and since we tell (that is contractually or legally obligate ourselves to) all these people that we only will employ people that have the necessary certifications (see jdcavo above), and then we agree to pay you wages and benefits based on your performing services while having the aforementioned necessary and vital certifications, it is a fact that our problems count more to us, our customers and regulators - than your problems.

Should you dare to show up knowing your are not certificated (that is you have somehow wanked us), your CV and your application goes on the banned list. For Life.

Welcome to the Maritime Industry. We hope you enjoy the trip. We are here for your safety and comfort.

Good luck. If you do not have your certs due to ANY reason, we respectfully suggest you release your seatbelt and proceed to the nearest exit, taking your luggage with you. A gate agent can assist. Upon de-planing, call dispatch immediately and advise them unfortunately it appears you are unavailable for a short time due to factors beyond your control.

One can at least respect the honesty, and try to work around the situation like adults, no wailing and gashing of teeth needed. If a company fires you for being honest with them, it isn’t the right place to work.

However, if we catch the crew department dispatching people on a seafarer’s promise that necessary certs will (at some undefined future time) be in hand, THEY are 200% screwed for violating company policy.

Good luck, and we wish you continued success in your future endeavors.[/QUOTE]

Haha, thank you for the response and the laugh.

9

You are welcome. Congratulations on the new license. Good luck with the NMC, your documents and career.

10

In case you don’t realize this yet, your Z-card has nothing to do with your license and will do you no good proving you have one.

11

Do you mean the old merchant mariner document? We stopped issuing them in 2009, since they were only good for 5 years, there are not a lot of them that are still valid. After April 2014, they will all be expired. Also, you originally mentioned a recent upgrade. Therre’s no way the old MMD or z-card is going to show that, it would have to be in the new MMC.

12

Yes i received my Z-card in 2008-09. It was to expire in 2014. Thanks everyone for your comments and help. Yesterday I finally received my MMC and will be getting to work in the next few days.

13

I took a job as an AB but the company was not going to pay me AB wages or let me work without proof. I wanted to work so I was hoping that those copies would atleast let then pay me as an OS until my credential came in. All is well now, they now know I’m licensed and have proper ratings and hopefully I can work my way up to some wheel time future.

I guess you could say I was so desperate to work that I was attempting to manipulate the system.

Lesson of the week: Patience is a virtue.

14

Cool. Good luck Smee.

15

I have tried searching for this requirement, I believe you this exists, but I can’t find it. To you know the CFR or USC reference?

16

46 CFR

§15.401 Employment and service within restrictions of credential.

(d) Each individual referred to in paragraph (a) of this section must hold an MMD or MMC that serves as identification, with an appropriate endorsement for the position in which the seaman serves, and the MMD or MMC, along with a valid medical certificate, must be presented to the master of the vessel at the time of employment or before signing Articles of Agreement.

–and–

§14.205 Production of credentials by merchant mariner signing shipping articles.

On engagement for a voyage upon which shipping articles are required, each merchant mariner must present to the master or individual in charge of the vessel every document, certificate, credential, or license required by law for the service the mariner would perform.

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