Is there any consensus on how the USCG is giving seatime tonnage credit for I.T.C. tonnage?
I just tracked down 199 gross register ton tug that I ran some years ago, and see that it is now I.T.C. 350 gross tons.
Will the USCG give me credit for 350 tons, or only 199 tons?
Also, is the USCG routinely putting a dual tonnage restriction on licenses: U.S. GRT, and I.T.C GT on licenses now, or is that only for large OSV’s?
The vessel has to be manned according to the ITC for the sea time to count as the 350… And stated as such on the sea time letter… With BST you get an ITC rating on your license, and domestic waters only taken off… Everyone should have the Basic Safety Training… Everyone on board!
Of course I sailed on that particular tug in 1991 under a prior owner (which has been out of business for 10 years) when it was only 199 gross register tons, and before STCW or I.T.C. tonnage for US vessels. As an uninspected tugboat, It did not have a COI to specify the manning requirements, and no ITC manning requirements were yet in effect back then. I did make an extended foreign voyage on that vessel, so there was nothing “domestic” about its service.
I certainly agree that everyone ought to take BST.
Doesn’t everyone need BST now in order to go beyond inland waters? The inside guys may not have it, but all of the outside guys must have it, or they couldn’t go outside?
I thought I’d heard guys saying on gcaptain a few months ago that the USCG sometimes wouldn’t put I.T.C. tonnage on their licenses? But if they gave an explanation of why, I didn’t understand it.
STCW requires BST on anything over 200 tons. Other than that, it might be a company requirement, as per their insurance or safety policy.
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I remember a lot of 500 GRT masters asking that question, and a 500 GRT master still uses to 500 ITC… And if requested, they could get a 3,000 ITC OSV … The key word is OSV… Not until you have the 1,600 GRT do you get the 3,000 GT ITC unrestricted… That is, without the OSV restriction.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;70361]Is there any consensus on how the USCG is giving seatime tonnage credit for I.T.C. tonnage?
I just tracked down 199 gross register ton tug that I ran some years ago, and see that it is now I.T.C. 350 gross tons.
Will the USCG give me credit for 350 tons, or only 199 tons?
Also, is the USCG routinely putting a dual tonnage restriction on licenses: U.S. GRT, and I.T.C GT on licenses now, or is that only for large OSV’s?[/QUOTE]
Covered by Coast Guard Policy letter No. 11-12. The link has been posted in several different gCaptain threads.
[QUOTE=Swampfox;70371]STCW requires BST on anything over 200 tons. Other than that, it might be a company requirement, as per their insurance or safety policy.[/QUOTE]
STCW also applies to vessels less than 200 GRT. See, for example, Regulation II/3 “Mandatory minimum requirements for certification of officwers in charge of a navigational watch and of masters on ships of LESS than 500 gross tonnage (200 GRT).”
I believe that discussion was about tonnage limitations on unlimited licenses.
They are the same thing. The CG counts less than 500 gt itc to be equivalent to less than 200 grt. You can’t get a higher license with 350 gt than with 199 grt.
That may be the case, but that’s not how the policy letter read to me.
Its very helpful to hear from people on gcaptain their experiences of how the rubber actually meets the road because a reading of the policies is a poor predictor of how the USCG policy interpretations are actually applied.
I just posted on another thread (MCA UK query) regarding your (tug sailor) issue. The tonnage issues will continually be debated until the USCG decides to use only ITC for regs. The argument is a sick and twisted cycle of insanity, not to mention a waste of our time. With that said, I mean no disrespect to any of the mariners who have posted on this subject. Most of the posts are informative and helpful…,its just been rehashed soooo many times. Your best option is to build a case. Everything is up for debate in our industry, especially licensing issues. There is no clear cut path to getting a USCG endorsed license. Therefore, it is our job as the mariner to prove our case. Get all of your sea time letters together and write an appeal. Put as much information together in the neatest fashion possible. Make copies for yourself and an extra copy for the USCG. An actual person has to review your information…make it easy to read and comprehend. This is how the negotiation process starts. I’ve done this and have been successful. If there is anything I can do to help, please PM me.
The CG goes by what ever is in your sea time letter.
Does the boat still have a GRT or does it just have an ITC for it?
In the end it really doesn’t matter. 199 GRT requires a 200 ton license and most should have a 500 itc with it. If it just has an ITC tonnage then you are going to have a license that has 500 ITC or more on it. While a 100 ton master can run boats over 500 ITC, as long as it’s got a GRT under 100 tons then that’s what the CG going to look at. Take it over seas and it’s a different story and in some cases your gong to need a 3000 ITC OSV in the minimum to run it.