It took me three cycles to nail the final license. I spent so much time at the REC Miami, I knew the names and family issues of the DHS security guards at the building! When I nailed the final exam, they all fist pumped me on my exit out of the building, hee hee.
Thanks for the input. I received a notification back saying that they were missing my proof of Country of Citizenship, which I didnāt think was needed (even after I asked the NMC online chat). So Iāve emailed that in and am hoping to hear back from them soon.
Think Iāll be aiming to spend a couple of days getting the exams knocked out and then see where I lie with the results. Would like to resit any of them that I donāt pass the first time pretty much straight away and then at least itās all fresh in my noodle. Will have to see how it goes.
But youāre right, Iām aiming at being there first thing in the morning and working through until closing time, so will see how I get on.
Did make me laugh at the DHS security guards fist bumping you when you passed!
What books are available for use by someone sitting for QMED exams?
Do the QMED exams require looking things up in the CFRs? Or Chemical Data Guide? Or anything else?
What are good sources of practice questions?
What, if any, USCG approved STCW courses does a QMED need?
Would it be a practical job market advantage for a QMED to also get Tankerman Assistant, Lifeboatman, or any other additional endorsements?
Is there any oil patch specific, or safety training , such as BOISET, or HAZMAT, that a QMED might find advantageous?
Marinetextbooks has qmed books. Canāt go wrong with mariner advancement, hawsepipe.net or lapware either.
Yes to CFRs and chem data guide.
Assuming a qmed wants to sail beyond the boundary lines, they need ab seafarer engine, rfpew and basic training. I wanna say survival craft/lifeboatman is a requirement but I canāt remember.
Once in a while I have seen job postings looking for a qmed/tankerman. Having a tankerman these days is probably worth more $.
Having those gulf classes would be advantageous for getting on OSVs since a lot of those companies are cheap these days. Less new hire cost for them the better I would think.
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Hey tugsailor,
I have wondered the same thing about most of those questions youāve posted. As Ctony has kindly added in, thereās a few websites that heās listed where you can find further information but thereās also a website somewhere (apologies, I forget the site) but it lists all the recommended reading for the exams. Seemed a bit much to be honest, but then again it was from the NMC.
STCW courses, if itās the same as it is for me, youāll need Basic Sea Survival, Basic Fire Fighting, Basic First Aid and Personal and Social Safety and Responsibilities. For my current position, Iāve also had to do Advanced Fire Fighting, Certification of Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats and Medical First Aid at Sea. Unfortunately none of mine are recognized by the USCG, so will have to start all over again with those at some point!
I do have a bunch of textbooks in PDF form for Engineering, but donāt know of a way to post them into the Forum. If someone can tell me how, then Iāll happily upload them, otherwise, Iād need an email address or dropbox access to put them into.
Crappy thing for the Tankerman endorsement (correct me if Iām wrong) is that you need to have a minimum amount of time on a tanker in order to be eligible.
Tankerman-Assistant and STCW Basic Tanker Operations require either time on tank vessels, or a course. One or the other, not both. So you can get it without tank vessel time. If you qualify with tank vessel time and no course, you also have to take an exam from the Coast Guard.
Tankerman-PIC and STCW Advanced require both, plus participation in cargo transfers.
jdcavo, thanks for the correction. That was me getting them mixed up. I donāt know if Iām correct on this one or not, but I believe that the USCG wouldnāt acknowledge a Hazardous Cargo Endorsement for the course for Tankerman-Assistant. Again, not sure, but I think Iām right on that one.
As a deckie, Iām not very knowledgeable about engine certification requirements, nor do I need to be.
I asked those questions mostly for your benefit.
If you are going to go the deckineer on a tug route, I think getting Tankerman Assistant might be a plus. If you end up being a deckineer on a tug towing an oil barge, you just need 90 days (60 - 12 hour days) and 10 transfers to upgrade to Tankerman.
Tankerman on a US tug/barge pays about $500 a day.
It has to be a āTankship Familiarization: Dangerous Liquidsā or āTankship Dangerous Liquidsā course specifically approved (by the USCG) for the tankerman endorsement. See 46 CFR 13.121(c ).
Ah right, sorry didnāt realize you were a Deckie! Iāll be working through some answers to the questions you posed and will see what I can come up with.
I think that with the CFRs, I would like to think that they would give you the material to look them up and not expect you to know them off the top of your head, because thatās pretty hectic. Either way, Iāll have a look through them and see what I can learn. Chem data sheets should be fairly easy for me to get my head around.
For the Assistant Tankerman, I didnāt add that in for the credentials I applied for, so that might be something to do for the future.
They provide the CFRs to look things up in the exam room. However, looking things up in the CFR requires practice and acquired skills. While the CFRs are in English, turgid CFR English is a foreign language to most of US
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Cool. Will have to get some practice in learning how to look things up on them. Itās all the same with the rules and regs regardless of your flag state. Itās all Greek to me!
OK, so took all my exams yesterday and this morning and somehow managed to pass them all. So now I have a QMED Any Rating MMC on itās way to me hopefully!
Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who gave their time, opinions, advice and experience and helped me get through this. Honestly Iād have been stuffed if it werenāt for you guys!
Will be looking to try and pick up some temporary work during my next leave with a view to build up my US flagged sea time for the future.
Cheers guys!
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Good show!
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@tugsailor Thanks! Will say that the examiner looked at me a little odd when I told him my intentions were to sit as many of the modules in the first day as possible to see where I needed to be the second day. At the end of the first day he chuckled when he ticked the box saying Iād met the minimum requirement of two modules in the one day, when Iād sat seven!
Just ticked myself off with failing the Fireman Watertender module because looking back, I know I rushed it and made stupid mistakes. Which meant I had to sit the two Junior Engineer modules when I would have otherwise not have had to. Oh well, I live and learn right?
Alright Chaps?
Have another quick question for those of you who seem to be able to navigate the USCG NMC a LOT better than I seem to be able.
So I know itās a ways off yet, but I started looking into where Iād be able to go in terms of licensing and credentials and what not once I gain my Citizenship, with the end goal being me attaining my USCG STCW Chief Engineer Unlimited license.
From what Iām reading, once I gain my Citizenship, and if I have the right amount of sea service (i.e. if Iāve managed to get myself some time under the US flag OR the USCG will accept my foreign sea service) and I complete my US STCW trainings, I would be able to apply and test for Designated Duty Engineer. Then moving on from there, after 24 months sea service as DDE National, Iād be eligible to apply and test for USCG STCW Chief Engineer 3000KW/4000HP or more.
Have I got this at all right or am I well off on what Iām thinking? Can anyone shed some light on this for me because, like I said, itās some way off yet, but Iād like to get my ducks in a row kind of thing and have the information in hand. More than likely Iām waaaay off the mark and Iāve got it all backwards again, but then Iām not going to bother asking NMC as they were not much use with helping me get my QMED.
Hoping that this might be able to help some others out as well whoāre looking for the same information.
Cheers guys! And smooth sailing!
I donāt see any reason why you wouldnāt be able to go straight to Chief Engineer Unlimited, thereās definitely no reason to start all the way down at DDE.
All of your sea time is meticulously documented, correct?
I didnāt realize that would even be a possibility. So looking through the checklist, as long as I attained all the US based STCW certification required and took and passed the exams, there is the potential for me to go straight to the Chief Engineer Unlimited based off my current sea time?
All my sea time is fully documented and was accepted for my QMED application without individual Sea Service Letters, so I would think that it would all be accepted for applying to test for a Chief Engineer Unlimited, but still a few things to get done before I can start applying.
Thanks for the info, always appreciated.
How much time do you have as Second Engineer?
There is no requirement in the rules for the time as an officer to have been licensed by the USCG.
46 CFR Ā§11.510
(a) The minimum service required to qualify an applicant for endorsement as chief engineer of steam, motor, and/or gas turbine-propelled vessels isā
(1) One year of service as first assistant engineer; or
(2) One year of service while holding a license or MMC endorsement as first assistant engineer. A minimum of 6 months of this service must have been as first assistant engineer, and the remainder must be as assistant engineer. Service as an assistant engineer other than first assistant engineer is accepted on a two-for-one basis to a maximum of 6 months (2 days of service as a second or third assistant engineer equals 1 day of creditable service).
I can see them scrutinizing sea time more when itās used to go straight to Chief Unlimited than when itās used for QMED but I donāt know if that will be the case.