Fake Licensing?!?

Yes, Internet Explorer. Which I don’t use for anything else.

I use Chrome for everything and never have issues with HomePort.

I knew two people in the Gulf that had things they shouldn’t but both were NMC errors. One person had never taken ARPA but didn’t have a restriction and another person never took celestial (class or exam) but was issued Oceans.

I probably tried Safari and Chrome. If it only works in some browsers why doesn’t it at least say that? A web app that works on all browsers is really not very much to ask for in 2019.

Microsoft replaced internet explorer with Edge 5 years ago. Although it’s still usable and maintained in the basic since it is practically a dead browser. Use at your own risk. Last year Microsoft Edge transitioned to a Chromium (Google) based browser. In other words Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome are more like half brothers. They share the same core.

Drink only distilled water or grain alcohol…

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Suspicious in that three of these guys took their third mates test (original officer endorsement) and passed the first time without ever cracking a book. They were also not familiar with subjects that I knew they should have been tested on. Just lucky? Maybe but doubtful…

Also an increase in fraudulent sea-time letters that pass through the NMC.

I was curious as to how oral exams are administered and about any restrictions. Section 2.4 in this document provides the answers.

I worked with two Capt that received their Oceans endorsement without ever taking the test , hell they were luck to get through T-Nav let alone C-Nav. But according to the Mariners this was an NMC mistake.

Scuttlebutt has been for years that New Orleans REC was the place to go for “easy upgrades and exams”. I never inquired as to what that meant exactly but this is at least the 4th or 5th time I’ve heard such things.

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I don’t think they’re allowed to keep it though. If something happens and there an investigation I bet they’d be facing charges.

Would USCG / NMC investigate whether or not a mariner attended and passed a class ?
In the past has NTSB ever investigated a Captains credentials to that extent ?
Maybe ? Seems like a question for JDCavo…

It seems like it would be fairly obvious during a superficial investigation that there’s no celestial class certificate or celestial exam module on file.

I used the New Orleans REC when it was on Poydras & later when it was on Reed Blvd. I think it has changed a few times since then. I can’t imagine how they could have made the tests any harder or easier. It was very cut & dry. But I guess the examiner, Holly Chetta, did make it easy by being 100% professional & seemed to show zero bias or emotion which made it less stressful. Later, in Charleston I saw a younger uniformed examiner sigh & get frustrated by a fellow test taker asking too many questions & making too much noise. I believe the lady in N.O would of handled it differently.

I never carried my original course certificates with me but would carry high quality color copies printed on thick paper because back in the day some foreign port state control inspectors would only accept the originals. My copies were so good I thought no one could tell. I accidentally got my copies & real certs mixed up & couldn’t tell them apart either. I thought I had the real ones to show for the required 1 time in the REC but didn’t. Mrs Holly could somehow pick out the fake ones & told me I needed to provide the originals before my upgrade could be issued. Luckily I had them in my car. So I know the New Orleans REC at that time wouldn’t accept knock off certificates & some how knew how to spot them.

Never heard anything like that with regards to the office in New Orleans. If I recall correctly back around 2001 there were a number of potentially invalid licenses originating from San Juan. In any case this sort of thing made the case for centralizing everything to the NMC.

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The only fake licenses I’ve heard of was the “tear sheet” licenses issued back from the early to mid 80’s for M&O licenses. All you had to do was fill out a declaration form that you were working in a certain capacity. The CG caved to the Oilfield lobby. It fucked up wages for several years. This overlapped into the flood of scabs into the 333 strike. The towing industry is just now recovering.

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Oh, man. . . the stories I could tell about those O&M licenses. . . I had a few on my ATB. . . all I had to do to stump them was to go to the switchboard and ask them to parallel the generators. . . . sigh. . .

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Cmakin, Id be real careful sending somone over to the panel who you have doubts about !! I’ve sailed with a few who should NOT of had a license (we all have) but I have a hard time believing a govt. employee would risk it all for a couple thousand bucks getting someone into the system. Fraudulent sea time certainly happens and some of that is bound to slip through but I feel confident sometimes someone at nmc makes a call or two about some of that? Yes, New orleans was the place to go test… and Hono was about the same, i did oilers there and could of passed blind folded.

I WAS very careful about sending these guys to the panel. Not sure my relief was as careful, or as capable, for that matter. . . and it wasn’t that these guys had “fake” licenses. It was the old O&M licenses that were given out. For engineers, I have no idea of the criteria, but the bar wasn’t very high.