You can take apprentice mate with a 200tn mate and get your apprentice mate of towing vessels then hold that for x amount of days then upgrade it to mate of towing
Apprentice Mate requires 18 months of service, with 12 months on a towing vessel. See 46 CFR 11.466.
Don’t even think about taking a course for the exam until you have the sea time or are certain you will have it in the immediate future Those courses expire after one year and if you don’t have the sea time by then, you will need to retake the course or take the exam from the Coast Guard.
Ive been with my company for 3 years, working with barges. So that wont be an issue. Just actually getting someone to give me the course has been the issue!
You don’t qualify for apprentice mate just because you have Mate 200. If you only had the minimum service needed for Mate 200, or did not get any time on a towing vessel, you do not qualify for apprentice mate.
To upgrade from apprentice mate to mate of towing vessles, you need to do more than “hold” apprentice mate for “x” days. You need a year on a towing vessels and you need to complete a TOAR.
I have my toar book, and that is already filled out from a course i took years ago. I am trying to take the apprentice mate steersman so i can start acruing the sea time on it to get mate of tow.
But everywhere I look, for example on Northeast Maritimes training page, they specifically say you have to have a 200-ton master to go to their apprentice mate steersman course.
It appears most of the courses for near coastal apprentice mate are “modular.” They apparently cover less than the entirety of what has to be on an apprentice mate exam, they cover what is not also on the Mate/Master 200 exam. Most also have the option of completing exam or course for Master 200 within a year before the apprentice mate exam, so you may be able to take both a master 200 course and the apprentice mate “upgrade” consecutively and in the aggregate they would meet exams for apprentice mate. Check with the schools to see if that is an option and if they also have a Master 200 course.
I guess I’m missing a trick here, I thought if you had a mate’s license of some kind, a fully completed TOAR, and 30 days of sea time on a towing vessel then you were all good to go as a Mate of Towing. It seems that @Natepf has all that, so why does he not already qualify as a mate of towing? What is the need for further schooling?
Towing vessels 8 meters or more in length. Every towing vessel of at least 8 meters (26 feet) in length, measured from end to end over the deck (excluding sheer), must be under the direction and control of a person holding a MMC endorsed as master or mate (pilot) of towing vessels or as master or mate of vessels of greater than 200 gross register tons, holding a completed Towing Officer Assessment Record signed by a designated examiner indicating that the officer is proficient in the operation of towing vessels upon the appropriate route.
Key is “greater than 200” GRT. But I would think increasing his license to 500 GRT Mate might be the easiest solution. He should already have the requisite sea service.
Not of some kind, a license for Mate or Master 500 GRT or higher., see 46 CFR 11.464(g) and 11.465(d). If you have the license, at least 30 days of observation and training on a towing vessel (90 days for western rivers) and a completed TOAR signed by Coast Guard approved Designated Examiner(s), you can work on a towing vessel without the endorsement in your MNMC, although you’d be foolish not to have it added at the first opportunity.
There’s also a crossover to Mate of Towing Vessels for persons with at least 3 years as Master on vessels less than 200 GRT, see 46 CFR 11.465(f). Under this option, you have to apply for and receive the endorsement before you can work as mate on a towing vessel.
It takes the least amount of sea time, but he OP said he wants to avoid sitting for 500 GRT.
Why? You can apply for 500 ton mate and mate of towing at the same time and as soon as you test you’re working as mate. Doing the stupid apprentice mate route will require a year of sea time after it’s issued before you can apply for mate of towing.
You don’t need any license to get your apprentice mate steersman. You can apply and sit for the license as soon as you have the required sea time.
Your terminology threw me off. You sit for an exam (at the rec), you take a course. The requirements to take a course are up to each individual school and jdcavo explained why most schools have pre requisite licenses.