My question is about upgrading from Master OSV less than 3000 to Master OSV 10000. I’ve been working as Mate on a OSV for more than 2 years (800 seatime days ) I hold a Master License less than 3000 . Can I upgrade my tonnage to Master OSV 10000 ? I know I need 720 days , and I have the seatime, the part that is confusing it says at least 360 must be as Chief Mate (or Master will do also), My whole seatime onboard has been as mate only. if any one has done it , help is appreciated
Have you bothered to look at the CFR?
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In order to have your time qualify as chief mate, you only need to show you meet the definition in the CFRs. If you were the mate in this position, you get credit.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-46/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-10/subpart-A/section-10.107
Chief mate means the deck officer next in rank to the master and upon whom the command of the vessel will fall in the event of incapacity of the master.
No, I read the requisite from NMC , I just get confused with the part that says 360 served as Chief Mate
Thanks
With the way the 10,000 master is structured, I haven’t known anyone to do this track exclusively as of late. I haven’t looked it up in a while, but I wanna say it’s extremely similar to upgrading to Chief Mate and then Master unlimited in regards to sea time, course work, and testing.
I know a lot of Bayou companies write sea time for mates without 2nd/3rd/chief mate….i.e just “mate”. The Chief Mate requirement is black and white. Were you Chief Mate or not?
If you are/were Chief Mate you have 3 options here….either get your company to write your time as Chief Mate, go work for one who does, or work for company as a Chief Mate who writes sea time letters with 3/2/CM titles.
That’s not the only requirement though. What tonnage boats have you been working on?
2500 GT OSV for over 2 years as mate ( I hold a Master license 1600/< 3000) , 12 hours day. Counts as 1.5 days, I have 790 days
Then you don’t have the necessary sea time.
12 hours days counts as 1.5 days , so I have 790 days of seatime
I’m not disputing the number of days you have.
Go reread the CFR and see if you can figure out why you don’t have the requisite sea time.
Ok thanks for the info.
Better yet, go to the CFR, copy and paste the requirements here, then explain why you meet them with your given sea time.
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IIRC, you get the tonnage you served on, plus 25%. 2500 x 1.25 = 3125 which is rounded up to 4000.
The good news is that I think you can get:
Master OSV 4000 GRT / 4000 GT, and
STCW II/2 more than 3000 (unlimited),
but of course that is restricted by your national license to 4000.
That will enable you to start sailing on vessels over 3000 up to 4000, if there are any?
If you sail on a vessel over 3000 for a year, you can get 10,000 OSV, and maybe Master unlimited (I’ve never understood that rule).
At least this is the way I recall it. I have not bothered to look up the CFR. I don’t know if anything has changed.
I wouldn’t be too surprised if there is lobbying by the bayou boat companies for another giveaway program
for OSV 10,000 due to the supposed “mariner shortage.”
I was trying to get him to practice being an officer and look stuff up in the CFR himself. The requirements aren’t confusing at all so if he has bothered read them (or the checklist for that matter) he would have seen for himself that he doesn’t qualify and what he would need to get to qualify.
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Your comment “That’s not the only requirement…” and the question that followed should have been a big hint.
If he works at Chouest they have a few boats that are 3,045 GT. I’m not sure if anyone else has any over 3,000 but under 4,000.
I still don’t think he qualifies for Master OSV though.
Master unlimited would require taking the chief mate / master unlimited exams.
It’s long past time for the USCG to modernize and harmonize the US tonnage progressions to match the STCW up to 500, up to 3000, and 3000 or more (unlimited) protocols.
The USCG is wasting a lot of time and resources, and putting mariners , companies, and the US economy through a lot of unnecessary grief, over all these nitpicking tonnage distinctions without any practical difference for which few if any, actual vessels of those tonnages exist.
The USCG is also creating a “mariner shortage” with these unnecessary tonnage restrictions.
It’s time to do away with all this finely split tonnage nonsense.
It’s also time to do away with the trade restricted licenses, especially OSV and Fishing. There is no longer any good reason to have trade restricted licenses. The Fishing licenses are a throwback to pre-WWII. The OSV licenses are a throw back to the 1970s and 80s.
The USCG either needs to fix the Towing license requirements to make them meaningful, or eliminate the towing licenses. 20 (12 hour) days of observer time and a one day simulator course (that everyone passes) for a TOAR is a joke. It accomplishes nothing of any practical value.
Why are US licenses the only ones in the World that specify a propulsion method: “of steam or motor vessels, except auxiliary sail vessels”?
Steamships and Sail ships are nearly extinct. Virtually all ships are “motor ships.” Most deck officers have no idea how to operate a steamship, but they are licensed for them. There are no US flag sailing vessels over 500 tons, except the USCG Academy training ship EAGLE. There are no US flag sailing vessels over 100 tons, except a handful of sail training and research vessels.
Requiring an additional sail endorsement would make sense for sailing vessels under 500 tons, if it were a SOAR (Sailing Officer Assessment Record) type of thing that required something like 90 days of seatime and an exam.
The US needs a modern, practical, realistic, licensing system that is in harmony with STCW, not what we have now.
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You need the tonnage, get on a bigger vessel and have your seatime letter saying Chief Mate(if you currently hold your own watch). I had a 1600 Mate-O, then upgraded to Third Mate 3000 as I went through a USCG approved program(Workboat Academy) then went to a small container vessel upgraded to 6000 as it was above 3000. Then went to MSC as the vessels that I joined were over 10,000, that automatically puts you in the unlimited range. I submitted to the USCG my seatime with what I had prior to join MSC. They stated how many days I needed as an AB since I had experience as a mate(running my own watch) in OSV. Then you work your way(seatime) to second mate and last year tested for C/M, which is the my current license.
I had to move down in order to move up.
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