Upgrade from 1600 mate to 1600 master

I will be working overseas when I accumulate enough sea time for upgrade to 1600 master. I got my mate license with oceans endorsement last year under the new system. My only submission with my upgrade app to 1600 master will be a sea time letter.

I will be at sea for four months and then ashore for four months. I would love to get back ashore, submit my sea time letter and have the NMC say “yep, you are now approved to test”. When I submitted my mate application, the Long Beacb REC would not forward my file until everything was complete package. It then took over three months to re-evaluate at NMC.

I see a scenario where I get back to the USA, submit my app, head back to sea four months later and not been approved to test.

Has anyone recently submitted an app to the NMC and got an approval subject to completion of sea time?

Thanks

I am in the same boat, so to speak… I have been told by the NMC that all my tug time is considered inland. Tows to Alaska and California must look sheltered on their globe in West Virginia… Any how, I have to go back to the companies I worked for, have them look up the old logs and re-issue my sea time letter, clearly stating days that were "near coastal’ …With over 1000 days of mate time and 1500+ days of master time, they are hanging me up to test for 1600 ton oceans on 45 more days of near coastal or oceans time… They disallowed 5 years on Russian trawlers of unlimited tonnage on the Bering Sea, because the company is out of business and I cannot verify the sea time… Love the new centralized system…

I have a shipmate going through the same scenario (submitting an application that is complete except for sufficient sea time.) The NMC processed his application and as excepted they told him he would be approved to test pending missing sea time. The problem he now faces is after submittin additional sea time, the NMC has declared 45 ofhis days not useable (for tonnage reasons). It’s not a huge problem, but now the 90 days he was given to complete the application package has expired, and he has to shell out another couple of hundred dollars to reapply. I know your situation is slightly different, but this may help a bit. Either way, best of luck!

The NMC will give extensions if you call them and explain why you need it.

Correct…same thing happened to me…requested extension,got it, no biggie.

…5 months and two amendments to my app from time of application to sitting to test…then two weeks to issue and get it in hand. The ink’s still wet

I had the same problem with seatime from when the company closed after the crab moratorium. I typed up my own seatime with a spot for a notary on it and bought my old skipper and the operations guy a lunch and swung by the bank at fishermans terminal for the notary. as long as that stamps there, NMC is happy