[QUOTE=MariaW;118185]I’ve just recently learned that the Coast Guard allows classroom education substitutions for sea time beyond what the maritime academies do. Ok, I’ve searched everywhere, and I can’t find a list. I’ve found a Coast Guard policy letter, but it’s not very specific. The only programs I can find are the maritime academies that give you 3rd mate after 3 years. Surely there’s got to be a list that the Coast Guard maintains?
The Coast Guard has a list of schools online, that they call “approved programs”, but when you follow the links, it’s just the school website, and not the actual program that allows substitution of education for sea time. Does anyone have any ideas how I can search for these “programs” that substitute classroom time for sea service? Are there any big ones you know off hand beyond the 6 maritime academies (and SIU)?[/QUOTE]
We allow them, but STCW doesn’t. So they are only available for license “transactions” that don’t involve getting or upgrading an STCW endorsement. Generally, that will be for inland licenses, near coastal or oceans licenses for not more than 200 GRT, or going from 3rd Mate Any Gross Tons (AGT) to 2nd Mate AGT or 3rd Assistant Engineer to 2nd AE.
In STCW, allowing training to substitute for sea time is called an “equivalency” and must be declared to and approved by the IMO. My knowledge is not current on this, but in the recent past there were only two such equivalencies in the world, 30 days for simulator training at U.S. maritime academies, and a similar equivalency in the Netherlands.
Before STCW 95, there were a considerable number of courses that awarded sea time credit, most commonly for simulator courses for bridge resource management or shiphandling. They were given by the Coast Guard as an incentive to take valuable training that wasn’t (yet) required. With the STCW restriction on equivalencies, and the fact that those BRM and shiphandling courses are now required, the basis for sea servioce credit for training has mostly disappeared.
An “approved program” is different under STCW. It’s a comprehensive program that includes a period of onboard training. For Officer in Charge of a Navigational Watch (OICNW) (3rd Mate/Mate 500/Mate 1600) that period of onboard training must be at least 12 months (the academy equivalency mentioned above was accepted as being part of that 12 month requirement).
The academies are the only approved OICNW programs for 3rd Mate and 3rd AE. There are a few for Mate 500/Mate 1600, including the Pacific Maritime Institute “workboat” program, as well as non-cadet programs at Maine Maritime and SUNY Maritime. There are quite a few programs for Rating Forming Part of a Navigational Watch, and a few for Rating Forming Part of an Engineering Watch, these also require a period of onboard training (2 months) and thus are generally limited to vessel operating companies and unions, although there are some at a few schools that have made training and placement agreements with vessel operators. Finally, there a few approved programs for towing vessel licenses, the programs are run by towing companies.
If this isn’t too much information, here’s some more. While the Mate 500/Mate 1600 programs I mentioned above are comprehensive approved programs for the STCW endorsement, and thus have 12 months of onboard training, they don’t qualify for their US license of Mate 500 or Mate 1600 as an approved program. The service requirements in the CFR allow an approved program as a way to qual;ify for 3rd Mate or 3rd AE, but not for Mate 500/1600. Mate 6500/1600 only has one way to qualify - by having three years of sea time. But, that provisdion about approved training for sea time that you first asked about allows up to 2/3 of a service requirement (it’s only half for AB)to be met with training. So the shoreside training at the workboat academy, Maine Maritime and SUNY Maritime is approved for 2 years of the 3 year service requiirement for the Mate license, and the remaining one third comes from the same one year of onboard training required by the STCW.
Your persistent efforts and inquiries are commendable, but you probably are not going to find the magic shortcut you seem to be looking for. Considering all of your questions, and the emplioyment challenges/obstacles you mentioned in another post, you might look to get started with Military Sealift Command. As a Federal entity, they may be more willing and/or compelled to diisregard factors like age and gender, they have approved program for RFPNW, and they will rrovide a lot of the training yiou need to get started. They may have some draw backs as well, but it gets you started and you can leave later if things look better elsewhere. Look at the copious threads about MSC ghere to get a sense of their pros and cons.