I think it is, which is why you no longer can just apply for the license to be printed on your ticket when you reach 2M Unlimited.
But I think the point @txh2oman is making is that the test wasn’t really much different. If you can pass the 2M/3M test you can easily pass 1600 Master.
To me the test doesn’t mean shit. You could teach an IT guy to pass deck gen and safety, its repetition and question recognition. What matters is experience, and for a 1600 ton guy, how well you handle a boat.
It’s neither. There’s stuff on the 3rd Mate exam not on the Master 1600 exam, and stuff on the Master 1600 exam not on the 3rd Mate exam.
I have.
NMERPAC meetings are open to the public. There is a virtual meeting on Tuesday June 25 and Wednesday June 26. The meeting is to identify and make recommendations on “gaps” in the STCW. The STCW is currently undergoing a periodic comprehensive review to identify changes. It is likely there will be amendments to the STCW following this review.
The following is from the Chair of NMERPAC:
In short, NMERPAC needs YOU to come with suggestions on how to revise and improve the STCW. Please note the importance of this task and how imperative it is for us to have thorough, thoughtful input from industry. Year after year, NMERPAC hears comments about how difficult the STCW is for US mariners and how confused training providers are- this is your chance to provide input and directly affect what the Coast Guard hears as concerns with this topic. The comprehensive review of the STCW Convention and Code is a tremendous undertaking, but it will only be made better with input from those of us who work with it every day. Come with your concerns and comments ready to discuss, consider having them written in case you want to drop them into the chat for verbatim consideration. As Chair of NMERPAC, I ask all of my colleagues in the industry to consider attending this meeting to ensure the Coast Guard will have the information they need from us as they represent the United States in the review of the STCW at IMO.
Information on how to register for next week’s meeting is in this announcement on the NMC web page. If you want to attend, you need to register NOW as the meeting is only a few days away.
So, you’re going to guarantee them a job? Sea going jobs might be plentiful now but this is a business which feast or famine is the rule. What happens when there are no seagoing jobs available?
They apply for a waiver because there’s no jobs available on US flag ships, just like they’re currently required to do.
Chouest will take them from that School for Young Boys!
You can “force” them to work for MSC without really “forcing” them. When they ask for a waiver to work shoreside MARAD just has to say no, MSC is hiring.
KP doesn’t just serve the Navy because of sealift requirements but the entirety of the US Military. Even the Army, Marines, Air Force have readiness requirements that rely on sealift and a big part of them all being able to say they are “ready” is because they know there is a pool of Mariners ready (theoretically) to man not just the RRF but also the mothball fleet. KP and the SMAs support this readiness dedication through an annual addition of licensed mariners to the pool. This is why KP will never change. Sure it is someone’s sacred cow, its almost the entirety of the US Military’s and at $40 Million/year of other peoples money an easy investment to say I am “ready”.
It should remain the School for Young Boys as it is now!