I have been talking to some gentleman who are in the process of upgrading from 100 ton master to 500 ton master. According to them they need to only take Radar, BRM, ARPA, AFF, GMDSS, and Medical PIC to make the upgrade. How are they avoiding taking all the other 11 operational OICNW STCW courses, the Management Level courses and all of the assessments. Is there an exception for people going from Master to Master? If so, where does the exception stop, at the 1600 ton level? For instance, if you tried to go to the unlimited level would you have to play catch up or would you just take those needed to advance. Thanks in advance as I have already been given the run around by schools just trying to sell me classes, so any knowledgeable advice or insight on where to find the information would be appreciated. Mr Cavo, Capt. Lee help a brother out.Diesel- Since I upgraded from 100 ton to 500 ton things have changed tremendously. I do not know for sure how one would do it now. To get an unrestricted 500 ton license the way I understand it you would have to complete all of the OICNW classes for 3rd Mate AGT just to sit for the license. Then turn in sea time and tonnage for upgrade all the way to 2nd mate AGT. The only way around that is to get the 500 ton Master OSV. To do that you take the required courses for OSV which are the basics that you have listed above and also there are competency assessments that have to be completed onboard an OSV by a CG certified Assessor. Then test. When I took the test I got the 500 ton Master and then they gave me the 1600 ton with 2 year’s sea time. Then I had to re test for 3rd Mate/2nd Mate, but I did not have to do the basic OICNW classes. Which is good because they are very basic. The below is the checklist for 500 ton Master and you can see at the bottom of the checklist that it requires the OICNW classes. If you were to get the 500 ton Master OSV license you could complete the STCW OICNW classes at a later date and have the trade restriction removed as I interpret it. I am sure Mr. Cavo may have some better information though.<br><STRONG><font size=4>
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Capt. Lee thanks for the input, The way I read/understand it, is the same way you do…I was basically wondering If there was just some glaring loophole that I was overlooking. I hope it works out for those guys, It will be interesting to see what transpires. I am taking Radar this week and report back to the boat on the 10th. What’s going on with you?
What was explained to me is that after 2 years of sea time with your 500 ton OSV you upgrade to your 1500 ton unrestricted. If you want to go further then you have to take the rest of the classes.