Competency should be the only thing that matters. How someone acquired that competency should not matter, as long as they have it.
Gross register tonnage is an ancient fiction that has very little to do with the size and complexity of vessels, or the skill or competence required to serve in whatever capacity on any vessel.
If three years of mopping and sweeping and chipping and painting on a 1601 gross ton “ship” qualifies someone to be 3rd mate on a 50,000 gross ton ship, then certainly one year as a 199 gross ton Master towing a 5000 ton barge ought to as well.
One day of actually running a 99 ton crewboat is more valuable experience than 10 days of sweeping, mopping, chipping and painting on some vessel that just happens to be over 1600 tons.
If a 22 year old kid that graduated from an academy last week with only 90 days of actual seatime as a cadet is qualified to sail as 3rd mate unlimited on a 50,000 ton ship, then surely a guy with over 1080 days of real seatime that has actually been commanding a vessel and handling a 5000 ton barge ought to be able to sail as a 3rd mate too.
True enough, tug masters with 200 ton licenses should not become instant unlimited masters based upon combined tug and barge tonnage. Some seatime on a ship over 10,000 tons (perhaps 90 days) should be required in addition to tug and barge time for 2nd mate unlimited. Beyond 2nd mate, at least half the seatime should be on large vessels.
Nor should someone who’s entire career has been spent on a oil rig trying to remain stationary 100 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, get an unlimited master’s license without spending some time on ships that actually navigate.
The seatime requirements are based upon the least educated applicants. We need rules about having adequate experience of the right type, but there also needs to more flexibility as to what, and how much,seatime is actually required. A guy with a degree in physics from MIT does not need as much seatime as a high school dropout to achieve the same level of competency.
As long as one develops the proper level of competence, it shouldn’t matter how they did it, or how long it took them. Nor should competency be presumed just because one put there time in.
I would be surprised if any one thinks that the outdated USCG exams are a meaningful measure of competence.