Chief Mate STCW Courses

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

I have been searching for a school ANYWHERE on the west coast that offers the upgrade courses for chief mate. All I can find are schools back east.

I checked PMI (Mitags “West” now) and their calendar indicates Baltimore for all of the classes. A school I am familiar with in San Diego, Training Resources Management Institute, where I took government courses doesn’t seem to offer them either according to their list of classes on the website.

Secondly, regardless of location, where did you take your STCW classes for the CM and/or 1600 ton master upgrade? What did you think of the school? How much did it cost? I understand most deep sea guys probably took them at the STAR center or MITAGS, but now the 1600 ton master upgrade from 2M is requiring the same courses…just curious where some of those guys took them.

I took my classes a couple years ago. I live on the Wedt Coast and had to go East for all the classes.

I took advanced ship handling at San Jacinto Maritime in Texas…adv met. and stability at mid Atlantic near Norfolk…mgmt of medical care and mgmt SAR at Quality Marine in Jacksonville.

San Jac had the best prices, mid Atlantic had the best quality instructors.

All told the class cost around $8.5k…plush airfare, hotels, etc.

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YES! PMI does offer the classes, but with Covid the schedule has been revamped. A bunch of those classes are scheduled for October-November.

Several schools are offering those classes online now-MITAGS and MAMA included. That might be another way to save yourself some $$$ on travel.

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Ah interesting! I should pay more attention and look more closely at the calendar. Knowing myself I probably scrolled through to about August or September on their calendar and after seeing nothing but Baltimore except for a rules of the road class I just moved on with my search.
I will be looking into all of these options and once again, your help is appreciated.

I did actually look into taking some classes online, and I found a school offering some them online but you just have to fly to Norfolk to take the tests before November I believe. Unfortunately I was underway, and will be underway, for all of them :expressionless: by the time I get home, the coronavirus-induced online class phenomenon will probably be no more.

The MITAGS classes might not be on the website yet…I have insider information :wink:

Good luck and I’m hoping that the USCG will let us keep offering these online classes!

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I did mine prior to the latest STCW requirements and did onboard assessments for all but two classes.

I took Advanced Stability at MPT in Ft. Lauderdale. Nothing fancy and was mostly a refresher of things I learned at the Academy but was a good prep for taking the Chief Mate Stability exam.

Advanced Shiphandling I took at Mass Maritime. It’s expensive, over $6,500 with travel and a hotel. Two years ago I also took advanced Shiphandling 1&2 at MITAGS through the union. If you have to pay out of pocket I highly recommend Mass. I learned way more in one week in Manned models compared to the two weeks I spent in the simulator.

Other than shiphandling I’d say take the classes where you can get the best price and availability. I’ve taken courses at Mid Atlantic and MPT and they are both very good. I’ve definitely learned more in some classes than others at both places.

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Very cool, I am going to look into those manned ship models. I meant get actually have a way to get that paid for; you’re not the only one I have heard recommend that.

Thank you all for the advice!!

I’ve never seen a manned model course that meets any STCW requirements.

Yeah, the full mission bridge simulator classes are expensive. IIRC, that’s actually a really good price if that includes travel and lodging.

The Advanced Shiphandling in Manned Models Course

USCG Approval:

Any student who completes our Advanced Shiphandling Course will satisfy the training requirements of 46 CFR 11.305(a)(3)(i), 11.307(a)(3)(i), 11.311(a)(3)(i) and 11.313(a)(3)(i) for masters and chief mates, provided the course completion certificate is presented within 5 years of the completion of training; AND will be considered to have successfully demonstrated the following assessments for masters and chief mates from NVICs 10-14(Ch-1) and 11-14(Ch-1)

8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.6.A, 8.7.A, 9.1.A, 9.2.A, 9.3.A, 9.4.A, 9.5.A; 9.6.A, 9.6.B, 9.7.A, 9.8.A, 9.9.A, 9.9.B, 9.11, 9.12, 9.13, 9.14, 9.15, 16.4.B

Applicants who have successfully completed this course need not present a completed assessment sheet for these assessments in application for STCW certification.

That’s awesome!
Definitely the way to go then.

I agree! I will be taking Advanced Shiphandling here when the time comes

You need to look a little harder. There’s one school with mannedmodels in the US and they are approved for STCW - See page 477 here
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Yes, as was pointed out three comments above yours.
I had never looked specifically to see if they were.

Also, there’s a school in Texas that uses manned scale models, but they teach rig moving with scale rigs and scale tugs.