This might seem like the same question every other foreigner asked but I didn’t get he info I wanted.
I understand USCG does accept foreign sea service as per 46 CFR § 10.232 (f) - Sea service as long as i can prove it properly
But my question is will it be the same case when applying for Second Mate Unlimited and Tank Vessel PIC(DL)?
From Second mate checklist / 360 days of service as officer in charge of a navigational watch on Ocean/NC or Great Lakes self-propelled vessels while holding an endorsement as 3rd Mate / is stated but will the accept my time while holding foreign(South Korean) 3rd mate endorsement so that I can get Second mate directly or will I have to do 1 year of third mate again
And for Tank Vessel PIC / 10 transfers of cargo (2 within five years of application), under supervision of a Tank Vessel PIC or Tank Barge PIC / but the Chief mate and master are koreans so their license is not American TANK VESSEL PIC. Will my experience of cargo be creditable?
To introduce myself briefly, I have around net 950 days of Deck mate sea time(18 months of 3rd and 12 months of 2nd mate) on 22K+ GRT Ocean going tankers. I am marrying a US citizen so I will apply for green card. With that I will apply for MMC for AB and work as unlicensed until citizenship. so if I have some sea days and make it more than 1080 days of deck sea time(which i expect it to be around 1400 including unlicensed sea time) by the time of citizenship I can apply for Third mate unlimited
Short version: the regs let NMC credit your Korean time, but they don’t promise it lands where you want it, and citizenship is the real gate for the mate side.
- Foreign service is creditable for an original or renewal of an officer, rating or STCW endorsement, “subject to evaluation by the Coast Guard” that it’s a fair and reasonable equivalent for grade, tonnage, horsepower, waters and operating conditions. 46 CFR 10.232(f)(1)
- Second Mate’s service requirement is 1 year as OICNW on ocean self-propelled vessels “while holding an endorsement as Third Mate” (11.406(a)(1)). The reg doesn’t say whether a foreign 3rd Mate CoC satisfies “holding.” That’s an NMC evaluation call, so ask them directly with your letters before you plan around it.
- Either way you can’t hold a US officer endorsement until you naturalize; on a green card you’re limited to ratings. 46 CFR 10.221(a)
- The fallback that doesn’t depend on that question: Third Mate is 3 years in the deck department on ocean vessels with at least 6 months of bridge watchkeeping. 11.407(a)(1)
- Heads up on AB: Able Seafarer-Unlimited is 3 years of deck service (12.403(a)(1)). At ~950 days you’d be short of that; 18 months gets you Able Seafarer-Limited (100 GRT+, not confined to rivers/small lakes).
Tank Vessel-PIC (DL), 46 CFR 13.203
- (a) 90 days as a deck/engineering officer (or rating) on tankships certified for DL. You clearly have that.
- (b) 10 transfers “under the supervision of a Tank Vessel-PIC”: 5 loadings, 5 discharges, 2 commencements and 2 completions of each. The text doesn’t say the supervising PIC has to hold a US endorsement, so foreign transfers go through the same 10.232(f) equivalency evaluation. Get the Master/C/O to sign a letter listing each transfer (date, port, cargo, load/discharge, commencement/completion) so NMC has something to evaluate.
All sections are in 46 CFR on eCFR: eCFR :: Title 46 of the CFR -- Shipping
Disclosure: I’m with RegKnots, an AI compliance tool. Answer checked against the cited regs; verify with NMC/your OCMI.
Yeah.. I don’t know if I can believe the AI info. I’ve seen some posts @jdcavo answering and he seems to know about this system. I was hoping to get a reply from him while writing this post tbh lol.
By the way I have asked the same questions to NMC live chat but they keep saying they can know once i submit application so asking them doesn’t help me. I just don’t wanna spend 5k taking all basic trainings and stuff and not have my experience accepted and have to do OS or whatever yk
- Heads up on AB: Able Seafarer-Unlimited is 3 years of deck service (12.403(a)(1)). At ~950 days you’d be short of that; 18 months gets you Able Seafarer-Limited (100 GRT+, not confined to rivers/small lakes).
They have changed it from 3 years to 18 months permanently
