Hello, I’m having a bit of trouble with my qmed oiler and wanted to see if anyone has had the same issues. I went to MPT sea school took the 4 week class for my qmed, passed, sent in paperwork with my sea time (I was on a 43 ft commercial fishing vessel, 23 GRT, 1000 hp) with almost 400 days logged. While on the boat I worked as an engineer, I specifically delt with the engine and keeping it matinenced (I was the only one doing this I had no one above me or below me). The school said I had everything I needed to get my qmed licence and everything i read seemed I did as well. A few weeks later after sending off my sea time I received a letter back from the coast guard stating 1) it was not noted which Qmed I was applying for (oiler) and 2) it say that the vessel I have given sea service from is a 23 GRT, to qualify for engin service the vessel must have an engine room comparable to that of a 100 GRT vessel. The letter noted CFR 12.15-11. I called the cost guard and spoke to a lady (not my review officer as she has not called me back yet) and she said that this means the engine room must be a walk-in engine room. I looked through everything I could find (including the CFR they notated) and have came across nothing stating the engine room must be walk-in. The sea school doesnt seem to know whats going on and have not had a call back from my review officer (even after calling several times through the week).Has anyone else had an issue like this? Any information would be helpful. Thanks.
I know how you feel, navigating rules and cfr’s can be a pain in the ass. But there is a whole other manual that states what you are looking for. It is the Marine Safety Manual. Chapter 12 Part C, has your creditable service rules, and it states that you need to be on 100grt vessel or more for the service to count towards your QMED. And in chapter 16-5 part F is about needing the engine room to be walk in. I don’t mean to sound like a book geek, because I’m far from that, I’m just a hawsepipe guy too that had to navigate all this once upon a time. Hope this helps.
You don’t sound like a book geek. You sound like a professional. Don’t apologize
Does your boat have a walk-in engine room?
Back in April I provided 2 sea time letters for my QMED (Oiler) rating. One for a 33 gross ton charter vessel. The other for a 100 ton crew boat. The letter provided for the charter vessel documented more than enough sea time. The letter provided for crew boat was short by about 30 days of sea time. Note that the charter vessel did not have a walk in engine room. I was hesitant when providing seatime letters and package because I to heard the same about the walk in engine room. They approved my package. I assume providing two letters helped. Not sure. I would suggest continue making your phone calls. Continue your CFRs research. Hope this helped.