So I’ve been working on small yachts for the last 7yrs as Chief Engineer and I upgraded to 3rd AE Unlimited & DDE Any HP during that time. The yachts were all limited hp and not US flagged. I’m trying to have my company word a seatime letter that will help the most with an upgrade to 2nd AE and possibly Chief Limited. Is putting that I was Chief Engineer good enough or should I do some other wording?
Can’t say I see anything wrong with chief engineer as your role. I have time on tugs in the past that didn’t require an engineer at all, so being the sole engineer on board with a DDE…
Whats the HP on the yachts? All under 4000?
Yes, mostly. A couple were over that and I will note that on the letter.
the uscg is only concerned with type of passage, class of ship, HP and das based on the discharge slip. I can’t believe any well worded letter can influence established criteria.
The USCG wants the magic words about “hasn’t failed or refused a drug or alcohol test”, “has used radar,” etc. etc. it’s all bullshit, but that’s what it’s all about these days.
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There needs to be a new type of electronic “discharge” tied to payroll records and automatically and electronically filed with the USCG every pay period.
ADP, Paychex and the other payroll companies could easily do this.
and, it should be built into the SMS compliance programs like Mobile Ops.
Mariners should have a new type of credit card like biometric ID that gets read and scanned into the SMS software when the mariners sign on and off. This card should include the MMC, Medical Card, Passport, TWIC, TSA-Pre and Global Entry data. The same card used for any of these purposes.
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And we thought they were backlogged when it came to renewals and applications? Can you imagine what would happen if they had submissions every two weeks for even one single company? 
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It would all have to be automated. The payroll companies would send the data (name, ss number, position, vessel, number of days being paid, directly into a USCG database. The NMC staff would only look at the data when processing a mariner’s application.
In some states when someone applies for a license as a plumber, the state uses the worker’s comp records to verify the applicant’s claimed hours.
I completely agree. I always told my guys to hang on to their time sheets when they get off the boat, because if they part ways with the company and it becomes difficult to get a sea time letter, those pay records will prove they were onboard at least. I’ve seen it before where the lady on shore had a beef with an ex-employee and felt like she didn’t need to do a sea time letter.
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There are specific wordings needed now for engineers and evaluators scrutinizing sea service letters. I suggest looking at the updated checklist on the USCG website for every endorsement you’re after—they give you a clear idea of what’s needed. Unfortunately, a lot of the advice on this forum is outdated.
See: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/nmc/checklist/
The checklists will often tell you what they are looking for. So you can get a good idea of the keywords looked for by evaluators from going down each box on the checklist and saying to **yourself** “would the evaluator know this from this letter alone?”
For example, if a vessel is under 100 tons, it **must** have a walk-in engine room with separate generators and auxiliaries (similar to a 100+ ton vessel). This has to be noted in your sea service documents. This is stated as a requirement for all limited engine licenses now in every applicable checklist. I would use those key words if true.
Heads up, any time on vessels under 100GRT is not being credited at all toward a 3rd, 2nd, 1st and chief “unlimited” engineer. Each checklist will say –”All required service, including recency must be on vessels of at least 100 GRT”
If you’re pursuing STCW such as OICEW, or even Able Seafarer Engine make sure you document any time shows you were supervised by a engineering STCW officer.
You should also have noted that you participated in engine room watchkeeping and STCW-required drills.
Feel free to PM me.
What a crock of nitpicking obstructionist, time and money wasting bullshit.
What vessel does not have drills? What crew members do not participate in drills.
What vessel does not have radar? What deck officer does not use radar?
If STCW applied, of course the officers have STCW?
If anyone refuses or flunks a drug test it’s reported, no need to say that they didn’t flunk or refuse in a seatime letter
What does 99 GRT have to do anything? We’ve now got 99GRT 6000 hp ATB tugs pushing 10,000 GRT barges.
None of this sort of information is on an official DISCHARGE !!!
It’s hard enough to get a seatime letter from most companies, let alone a perfectly worded letter.
What about all those seatime letters we have from years ago, from companies that no longer exist, or don’t have old records, that do not have up to date seatime letter wording?
Whoever is in charge at NMC must lay awake at night trying to think up ways to screw mariners and gum up the works so nothing ever gets done.
I’m with you, especially with the old sea-service letters. Not to mention the fact it’s often hard to get companies to correctly write a letter, even when documenting what you need.
The best thing to do is pull the checklists for anything you ever think you will apply for and, line by line, say, “Does this get proven by this letter alone?” Then hound the company to write the letter correctly.
The USCG should just put out a form where you just check the boxes for every eventuality the USCG could care about.
To give USCG / Evaluators a bit of credit regarding the original poster’s question, drills are not required on yachts and the engine room may be a big outboard… so they need documentation, whereas with U.S. discharges, they know more about the ship.
The all knowing office staff that issues seatime letters doesn’t want to listen to mariners about what magic words must be said in seatime letters. It’s best to have a license consultant rewrite the seatime letters and explain why. They will listen to an expert.
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