Gman, within this thread there are opinions expressed and then there are answers to your initial questions. If you want to go to work in the maritime industry what is relevant for you at the moment is:
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Submit your application for an MMC, NOW. Chief Cavo answered your question as to whether or not they will include BST on your MMC (which replaced the MMD and STCW Certificate) and the answer is NO.
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Complete a Basic Safety Training course, retain your course completion certificates and check that you have an STCW Certificate when applying for a job.
Where do you find the answers to such questions without the benefit of gCaptain? Code of Federal Regulations. You’ll be looking at Title 46 and of particular note is Chapter 1, Subchapter B, Parts 10 and 11. I would suggest a bottle of ibuprofen and a 6 or 12 pack of your favorite beer before beginning this endeavor. While the beer certainly will not help your understanding of what you are reading, it will help with the side effects of reading it, trust me. I believe the suggestion of a bottle of ibuprofen is self-explanatory.
For clarification, BST and STCW are not two separate things. BST is an entry level requirement of STCW.
With the Coast Guard and STCW you essentially have 2 different ladders that you must climb to get to the top. It just so happens that these two ladders share some rungs. The Coast Guard has always had their requirements for the various positions. Then they agreed to international requirements (STCW), for the same positions, and have done the best they can to incorporate them into their existing requirements. While you will always have to meet the CG requirements, whether or not you have to meet the STCW requirements depends on where the vessel sails and sometimes on the vessel itself. Whether it’s because of confusion or simply wanting better trained personnel, many companies have required STCW compliance whether or not such is required by the CG for their particular operation. Often times they will even state that the CG requires it, do not let this confuse you, bottom line is if they say it’s required, regardless of who it is required by, you’re not going to work for them unless you have it. Sometimes knowing the difference is helpful, usually not.