Hello forum! I currently hold Mate of tow NC but work as a deckhand on a ship assist boat can I upgrade to master of tow from being a DH on a 2 man crew?
Not if your sea time letter says deckhand . Why don’t you just get a job as a mate
Or what do you mean by 2-man crew? Is it just you and the master? In that case you can make an argument that your sea service letter should specify you are a mate, rather than a deckhand.
No. You need time as Mate on a towing vessel for Master.
It’s more than what the letter says. Creative writing might work for some endorsements, but if you don’t have license as Mate and the authority to work as Mate on a towing vessel, you won’t be approved for a raise of grade to Master.
Not gonna work.
So just clarifying I would have to be sailing as mate and have time as a Mate on my sea letter to upgrade to master.Not holding mate of tow; and being the deckhand on the vessel since it’s a 2 man crew?
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From CFRs:
Mate means a qualified officer in the deck department other than the master.
He is qualified as a mate of towing, working in the deck department, and is next in line under the master.
Not sure how NMC could refute his service letter if it called him a mate rather than a deckhand. A bit similar to the chief mate argument when there is no specified chief mate position in the COI.
He does.
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seatime letter as a mate or “chief mate” would seems to solve this issue.
Brother with what you are doing, you’re the cook, mate, engineer, and deckhand all in one. They damn well should write your seatime letter up as Mate because you hold the Mate license and for all intents and purposes are serving as Mate. If the office hesitates to do this for you it’s because they are worried you will subsequently ask for Mate’s pay, which they don’t want to pay you.
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Did he ever go to the wheelhouse and do mate stuff?
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This is laughable.
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does it matter? half of the mates at MSC do not go to the bridge, they are deck mates. not a requirement to have stood a navigation watch for your seatime to count as a mate. ship assist tugs dont require to run with a mate at all, so hes not even filling a COI billet.
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Notwithstanding that MSC to a rivers towboat is apples to screwdrivers, by your logic can a MSC ordinary count that time as mate? Also, time for 2nd and chief mate has to be as officer in charge of a navigational watch ( see 46 CFR 11.405 and 11.406) Are MSC deck mates in charge of a navigational watch? MSC vessels also have to have STCW which requires training, assessment and navigational watch time. The path the OP wants has none of that.
So you’re good with letting someone who has never been in the wheelhouse as mate be master and the only licensed officer on board on a towboat pushing 40 barges in congested, restricted waterways?
Not filling a COI billet? WTF does that mean? If anything it makes your specious argument even less relevant.How can a deckhand be a mate if a mate isn’t required? That it is not required is because the master does all the boat handling and navigation.
Or, because he’s a deckhand, not a mate.
“Lets hope your seatime includes more than just coffee breaks on the deck”
-Captain Ron
I’ll let the deckhand himself report what he does and doesn’t do. I’ve given him the benefit of the doubt because I’ve run a few ship assist boats in my career and I know how they are manned (under-manned).
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I trust the company to make this decision. Just cause someone rolls up with Master of Tow doesn’t mean they blindly hand them the keys. Or if they do then they deserve the shitstorm that will inevitably follow.
To the OP, cheat, lie, write creative seatime letters all you like, the rules that make it super hard for tug guys to get MOT while making it super easy for someone with a big license are bullshit.
no they are not, and their seatime still counts to upgrade to c/m or master. there are msc career 2M deck mates and CMs that would not and cannot do bridgewatch because they havent in ages, especially in congested areas.
like someone else said having the ticket doesnt give you the keys.
he can be a secondary (backup) mate ad hoc while the master needs relief as a non COI billet.