Last year I came ashore for personal reasons. I had planned to obtain C/M-Master unlimited, and I had about 50% of control sheets obtained through various classes.
I have sea time and still want to obtain the license while I am ashore. All I lack is several control sheets, but now I don’t have a convenient way to obtain them while working ashore.
I am aware several of the U.S. professional training centers are limited on number of control sheets which they can deliver through classwork.
Has anyone else been in this position? If so, did you find a solution for how to obtain authorized sign-off on outstanding control sheets in order to be approved to take license?
The big union schools (STAR Center, MITAGS) can do every class and every sheet you need. Of course it’ll probably cost you more there than the smaller schools.
MITAGS and STAR advertise formally that they dont deliver a number of the sheets in any class. Is this something that they are known to do then on an ad hoc basis? Anyone have personal experience?
If I recall correctly, when I took them at STAR Center 5 years ago, all the control sheet assessments were part of the courses. For celestial we had to go down to the Dania Beach pier a few times to take sights.
[QUOTE=Mairnéalach;112397]MITAGS and STAR advertise formally that they dont deliver a number of the sheets in any class. Is this something that they are known to do then on an ad hoc basis? Anyone have personal experience?[/QUOTE]
Being approved to conduct assessments in a course is not the same as doing them “ad hoc” for people not ion the course. The approval to do tthe assessments is part of the course,. If they are doing assessmewnt outside of a course, they need a specific approval too do that. This information was on the NMC web page in the past, but may not be there now, they no longer provide the details of approvals, only the name of the course. Look for anything listed as either chief mate or master assessment. If you fibnd any, you may need to contact NMC or the school to get the details. If you contact the school, ask to see a copy of the approval LETTER from the NMC to the school (not the approval cvertificate).
[QUOTE=jdcavo;112426]Being approved to conduct assessments in a course is not the same as doing them “ad hoc” for people not ion the course. The approval to do tthe assessments is part of the course,. If they are doing assessmewnt outside of a course, they need a specific approval too do that. This information was on the NMC web page in the past, but may not be there now, they no longer provide the details of approvals, only the name of the course. Look for anything listed as either chief mate or master assessment. If you fibnd any, you may need to contact NMC or the school to get the details. If you contact the school, ask to see a copy of the approval LETTER from the NMC to the school (not the approval cvertificate).[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the informative reply.
What are the requirements to be designated shipboard assessor? If I know a colleague who has met this requirement but I am not an employee of his ship, is it possible to be assessed by this qualified person shoreside on need basis, or can such assessments only take place in context of approved schools or in service of a ship?
Point of my question is to explore whether “shoreside” mariners who are taking couple year’s break from sailing have got any options when these professional centers do not formally offer some of the assessments.
Read the assessments. They have to be done in a simulator, approved class, or ONBOARD. Theoretically you can’t do them sitting on the beach with somebody else who’s sitting on the beach as well. The assessor has to have the license which you are applying for, if not higher.
That being said, I still don’t know what’s stopping someone from getting one sheet signed and then getting creative with a copy machine or photoshop. Nobody sees the originals…
[QUOTE=New3M;112776]That being said, I still don’t know what’s stopping someone from getting one sheet signed and then getting creative with a copy machine or photoshop. Nobody sees the originals…[/QUOTE]
NMC occasionally contacts assessors to spot check. If you are on a vessel that uses certificates of discharge, NMC has those records and it’s pretty simple to see if the assessor and the applicant were ever on the same ship at the same time. And, while NMC allows originals,. they can and will ask for originals if they have reason to suspect the authenticity of the copy.
Also, the likelihood that someone will sign their name exactly the same way over 100 times is pretty small, a shrewd evaluator can spot this pretty easily.