Looking at sea service requirements on the checklists I noticed the requirements were the same for Oceans and Near Coastal. Is it just a matter of taking the extra ocean exam modules?
[QUOTE=“cowboy;117554”]Looking at sea service requirements on the checklists I noticed the requirements were the same for Oceans and Near Coastal. Is it just a matter of taking the extra ocean exam modules?[/QUOTE]
I just finished my exams for 3rd mate and all of the tests said Oceans on them…I’m getting my Near Coastal. I mentioned it to the proctor and she didn’t seem to have an answer. I believe the only difference is Celestial Nav exam and another 25 questions or so on a Nav gen test. My evaluator at the NMC instructed me to do my flashing light certification as well…he said I still need it for Near Coastal. I’m sure JDC will jump in and correct any wrong info. Hope this helps.
I got a 150 NC Master and 500 inland master and was trying to figure out how to get the oceans on the 500 ticket. While scanning the checklists I noticed that the seatime requirements for 500 mate oceans were the same as master 200 near coastal, which I already have…so I was wondering if I could take the STCW courses and a limited exam and get the 500 mate oceans license.
[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;117557]I just finished my exams for 3rd mate and all of the tests said Oceans on them…I’m getting my Near Coastal. I mentioned it to the proctor and she didn’t seem to have an answer. I believe the only difference is Celestial Nav exam and another 25 questions or so on a Nav gen test. My evaluator at the NMC instructed me to do my flashing light certification as well…he said I still need it for Near Coastal. I’m sure JDC will jump in and correct any wrong info. Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]
Find and use the NMC exam guide: http://www.uscg.mil/nmc/training/pdfs/deck_and_engineering_guide.pdf
Note that all the modules for near coastal and oceans are the same except for navigation problems. So in your case, it’s simple, if you didn’t get celestial navigation problems, you probably had the right test.
For everyone, when you get the test letter from NMC, check the modules on it against the exam guide. Then, when you take the test, make sure the numbers match what was on your letter. Don’t worry about the title on the test, just look at the numbers. Note that in the exam guide, an “X” indicates that there are multiple versions of the same test, and the X will be replaced with a version number, e.g. the exam guide says 054XX, your test may say 05405.
So is it possible to take a limited exam and get the ocean route? As long as you meet the STCW requirements…