Congrats. It’s now a done deal. But the issue of being taken to task by the local MSO is a concern.
Were you operating (either as Master or Mate) on a UTV OVER 100 tons prior to you having the paperwork? Or was this time spent solely as trainee? That would be an important distinction to be able to prove if you are taken to task by the (IMHO) overzealous MSO.
You keep referring to the CFR, and the ‘holding a 200 ton and a TOAR.’ That is not valid for authorizing service on a towing vessel. The license has to be [U][B]greater[/B][/U] than 200 tons. On licenses 200 tons and less the Toar comes into effect when you have an apprentice license and need to go to the REC to have the full MTV endorsement put on your license.
Sorry but I made a typo on the earlier post, I meant to ask if you had run ANY towing vessels over 100 tons while you were in this situation.
Did you have multiple licenses held at the same time? EG, 100 ton Inspected, Aux sail, 200 ton mate/master? I ask because I was in the same boat, at one point I had 3 separate pieces of paper, One as 100 gt licensed operator of inspected vessels, One OUTV, and one as First Class Pilot AGT. I was relieved of these at the REC one day, when the guy reached over the counter and TOOK them out of my satchel. and brusquely informed Me that I shouldn’t have any of them! About an hour later he returned with my new license, which was 200gt master, MTV, and 1st class pilot AGT. The distinction was it was all on ONE piece of paper after that. After all that I was happy to have had my 100 ton bumped up to 200 ton for ‘free’.
I found out later that it takes a very astute USCG evaluator to put all these pieces together, and since I was giving them info piecemeal, it actually would’ve been easier on me if I had laid it all out in the open. BUT, the REC had ALL my paperwork then anyway, they just can’t be bothered to look through it to make it as ‘full’ as it could/should have been.
This brings me to another topic: the NMC in W VA is supposed to make everything unified, but there are still examples of different answers from different evaluators, for the same questions. Not that they aren’t trying to make it unified, but there still exists the ability for individual interpretation by the evaluator.
By any chance did you get ‘grandfathered’ into your MTV 100 ton?; which would mean you have NOT taken a course, or (Prior to this) completed a TOAR?