Just to be clear, we’re not allowed to sail with a expired medical certificate even if we’re in the process of getting it renewed correct? My vessel coordinator is trying to tell me to ship out because he and the other crew’s captain said it was okay but I’m almost positive they’re incorrect about that.
It’s not technically legal, but with NMC becoming a black hole of delays, it’s becoming increasingly common for guys to sail with expired credentials.
If you do it, you might want to carry a copy of your application and the physical that you passed, and any correspondence with NMC with you.
If the credential verification tool on the NMC website says that it’s been approved, then you might want to carry a copy of that too.
During Covid, I was contacted by an owner that wanted to hire me to do a voyage because his Captain’s medical cert had expired. I was going to do it, but I lost the job when the local USCG OCMI told the owner it was ok for the Captain to sail with the passed physical while he waiting for NMC to send the Med Cert. That probably wasn’t correct. YMMV.
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