Could I take my test for apprentice mate of towing before I complete my seatime?

Didn’t see anything on this… Would I be able to test for my apprentice mate of towing before I got my seatime and my license just be invalid until I attained the rest of my seatime?

I work on a 350 ton push boat in near coastal waters and on the ICW and Mississippi river. I have only 159 (I work over 12 hours a day though, so the 159 may count as more) days of seatime today.

Also, we are spending TONS of time not moving, do you think my company will still count my seatime for me or will they not because we aren’t underway?

Thanks for reading and responding.

[QUOTE=DEL-J;45390]Didn’t see anything on this… Would I be able to test for my apprentice mate of towing before I got my seatime and my license just be invalid until I attained the rest of my seatime? [/QUOTE]

If you want to take the test from the Coasdt Guard at an REC, you cannot take it iuntil you have all the sea time and been evaluated and found to meet all other requirements. You can take a course that will substitute for the Coast Guard administered exam, but it will only be valid for a year and you have to get the sea time and clear the evaluation process before that one year is up.

Thank you so so so much, I think Imma wait til I have about 300 days then. I usually ride for 10 weeks at a time because I have no home life, lol.