Unlicensed engineer to DDE any HP

Maritime Topics Maritime Training & Licensing
1

A seaman has the following seatime on tugs by horsepower working as deckhand/unlicensed engineer:

5000 HP- 379.5 (12 hour days) vessel of 98 GT

3600HP- 581.5 (12 hour days) vessel of 98 GT1.

3000HP- 855.5 (12 hour days) vessel of 87 GT

379.5+581.5+855.5 days= 1816.5 days x 1.5= 2724 (8 hour days)

These days are documented with sea time letters.
He has recency on a vessel over 1600 tns and over 4000 HP working as Oiler.

Given- The NMC DDE checklist forDDE Any HP reads:

1080 days of service in the engine room, [FONT=luxi-sans-1][SIZE=2]with [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Myriad Pro][SIZE=2]540 days as a QMED [SIZE=2]or equivalent supervisory position. [/SIZE][/SIZE][/FONT]

  1. Does the sea time as "deckhand/unlicensed engineer count as “equivalent supervisory position”?
  2. Does all or only part of his sea service count towards Any HP, since some service was less than 4000 HP?
  3. Does he qualify for testing as DDE Any HP?
  4. If he obtains a QMED/oiler before testing for DDE Any HP, will he then have to start sea time over?
  5. Does hlding the QMED/Oiler make his previous unlicensed engineer sea time unavailable?
2

It depends upon how your sea service letter is written. If it says Deckhand/ Engineer there will likely be a problem. if it says 'serving as assistant engineer there will be no problem.

3

[QUOTE=cappy208;98599]It depends upon how your sea service letter is written. If it says Deckhand/ Engineer there will likely be a problem. if it says 'serving as assistant engineer there will be no problem.[/QUOTE]
There may still be a problem. While NMC’s evaluators are not mariners and may not be very knowledgeable, they probably can recognize that a deckhand is not an engineer. And your verbiage does nothing to address the requirement for time as a QMED “or equivalent supervisory position.” Moreover, “assistant engineer” sounds a lot like a license with a similar title, and may raise flags about manning issues. Be prepared to provide a reasonable breakdown of the actual time spent on deck and in the engine room.

4

[QUOTE=“jdcavo;98651”]
There may still be a problem. While NMC’s evaluators are not mariners and may not be very knowledgeable, they probably can recognize that a deckhand is not an engineer. And your verbiage does nothing to address the requirement for time as a QMED “or equivalent supervisory position.” Moreover, “assistant engineer” sounds a lot like a license with a similar title, and may raise flags about manning issues. Be prepared to provide a reasonable breakdown of the actual time spent on deck and in the engine room.[/QUOTE]

Tugs are uninspected, with most having NO requirements for any engineers license. An astute evaluator would know that. The ‘time in equivalent supervisory capacity’ means in charge of the equipment, not in charge of others.

As an aside, tugs are coming under more and more scrutiny lately for having the deckhand (when the chief is of watch) do 30 minute ER checks. This is more than some actual engineers do (while ON watch!). So these Deckhands are going to have verifiable evidence of time spent below decks, doing exactly what the (unlicensed) chief is doing.

5

Is there a minimum horsepower required for engine room seatime to count toward QMED and DDE 1000 HP ???

6

[QUOTE=tugsailor;98664]Is there a minimum horsepower required for engine room seatime to count toward QMED and DDE 1000 HP ???[/QUOTE]

No. The only difference in the service requirements dfor the different HP levels of DDE is the quantity of sea service.