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Providing Credentials to Mariners
According to the CFR’s you should have received a certificate of discharge documenting your sea service. You will need to provide a copy of this documentation with your application. International Mariners or military seamen will have a different type of sea service documentation - see type of sea service for further information.
(a) Each master or individual in charge of a vessel shall, for each Merchant Mariner being discharged from the vessel, prepare a certificate of discharge and two copies; whether by writing or typing them on the prescribed form with permanent ink or generating them from computer in the prescribed format; and shall sign them with permanent ink (Section 14.307, para. a).
In order to count your days of seagoing service you must understand that a “day” is defined in the regulations as “eight hours of WatchStanding or day-working not to include overtime.” For vessels under 100 GRT, however, you may receive a day’s credit for less than eight hours, but in no case will the acceptable period be less than four hours.
12 Hour Work Day
If you work on a vessel where a 12-hour day is authorized and practiced (crew boats, supply boats, towboats, and some commercial fishing boats), you can claim one-and-a-half days for each 12 hour day worked. A 20 day hitch is thus transformed into 30 days of sea time. The 24 months (720 days) that you need to qualify for a license can be reduced to 480 “12-hour” days – if you have served on vessels that are authorized to work a two watch system. To claim this time, your documentation of service must specifically state that you worked 12 hours per day.
Time Served on a Vessel
When reading the requirements, keep in mind that “sea service” means time on the vessel – not time of employment. You may have been employed by a towboat company (or several) over a period of 4 years and two months, for example, but the Coast Guard will only credit you with the time you spent on the boat.
NMC Customer Service Center (CSC): 1-888-IASKNMC (1-888-427-5662) email (IASKNMC@uscg.mil)
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