I called the SIU academy to ask if the qmed comes with an unlimited endorsement but nobody seems to know anything about the industry (despite teaching future mariners, go figure). They said that limited and unlimited only applies to deck side. Is this true? If not, what is the credentialing for engineers who want to be able to sale on anything?
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With engine officer licenses it is usually divided by plant type and then horsepower. For example, my license states that Iâm qualified to sail as CE motors, unlimited horsepower, 2nd assistant for gas turbines, unlimited horsepower and 3rd assistant for steam, unlimited horsepower.
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Ratings donât have tonnage limits.
Only AB ratings have âlimitedâ and âunlimitedâ but those arenât tonnage restrictions.
Chief Engineer of Motor, Steam, and Gas Turbine can sail in any capacity, any plant, any tonnage.
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It seems you know what youâre talking about. AB Limited and Unlimited are ranks. I thought they were limitations, like a CDL A and CDL B. Both are CDLs, but only one person can drive a combination vehicle. You feel me? From my research (asking elsewhere), Limited and Unlimited are close to âeditionsâ. Like normal and rare, or standard retail and collectorâs edition. Am I right so far?
No. One is inexperienced, one is experienced.
Limited = little to no experience
Special = some experience
Unlimited = a step away from levelling up to Bosun
Correct?
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No.
Bosun is just a job title. Still an AB.
Levels of AB License and Sea Service Requirements
- AB Limited: This level requires 18 months of service aboard a ship weighing over 100 gross tons on the ocean or in U.S. waters.
- AB Unlimited: The sufficient amount of sea time for an AB Unlimited endorsement is 1080 days.
- AB Special: To qualify for AB Special, you need 360 days of experience aboard a ship on the ocean or U.S. waters.
Yes, but SIU requires one to be an AB Unlimited in order to be bosun.
Doesnât have to be an AB. I have sailed with OS bosuns, although they had tons of experience as AB but could no longer meet vision requirements, so they only held OS (SUP)
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An AB, but with keys 
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With keys is a good description. They knew their shit.
QMED you just have series of endorsements all are unlimited horsepower and tonnage. Once you get to Engineering officers itâs different. DDE is limited to 500 tons, Assistant Engineer -limited / Chief Engineer-limited is limited to under 1600 tons. 3rd through 1st Engineer is unlimited. Then horsepower limitations are seperate on top of that. There is a Chief Engineer - limited crossover to 1st Engineer with enough sea time.
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There are a few different qmed ratings. If you hold all the ratings, which i can see being misconstrued as unlimited, its called in your mmc qmed-all ratings.
All engineer licenses can/may have a tonnage limitation and horsepower limitation.
A lot of people at the schools or in HR at the boat companies donât understand the engine license scheme. Perfect exampleâŚi used to be a dde unlimited and all dde licenses are 500 grt licenses. A port engineer who was a younger fella, academy grad at a big tugboat company told me i didnt qualify for a job opening because i had a 500 grt limitation and he needed a dde unlimited. After attempting to explain to this dumb ass that the license he was requesting didnât exist i finally gave up when he told me that when i upgraded to chief limited that license wouldnt be good enough either. Keep in mind i was applying for a harbor tug chief job. Last words were âso you are telling me you require an unlimited chief for a harbor tug job?â He said âno, just dde unlimited but without a tonnage limitation.â I then said good luck with that, have a nice day.
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The German merchant marine does have a qualification for Bosun. The ones I have meet on heavy lift vessels certainly knew their stuff.
Iâm still not understanding the ranks 100%. Is it this confusing because the USCG just wants to justify their existence with senseless and confusing bureaucracy?
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Please correct me if im wrong and point me to the cfr. The horsepower limitation is plain and simple laid out on the checklists with where to find the details in the cfr. I cant find anywhere in the cfrs that mention tonnage limitations with regard to engineering licenses or endorsements, yet there is dde under 500 tons, and 1600 tonnage limited engine licenses. So i can only guess these engineering tonnage limitations come from coast guard precedent ?
See 46 CFR 15.915.
Very clear for all to read. Thank you.
There is no calculation of tonnage limits for engineers, they are what they are in the reg I cited. Any restrictions on the authority of the license are not based on the tonnage of the vessel(s) you got your sea time on.
They are evaluated separately based on what you apply for and what is required for each The only difference in sea time is 3rd AE requires more time as QMED, the total time for both is the same, and the tonnage doesnât matter.
Generally, tonnage doesnât matter for qualifying for an engine license. It is for what you can do with the license when you get it.
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I was told I could not sail on an OSV with my CE Unlimited Motors. I told them the exact same thing that Unlimited means I can sail anything, anywhere (if endorsed for that propulsion mode).
I was incorrect. I cannot sail on an OSV with my CE Unlimited.
JD will chime in for the hatersâŚ.