Maritime News & Stuff

Does your 64 hr course include the Columbia endorsement?

Joe

Joe,

Yes the 64-hour OUPV license course includes the Columbia River endorsement. In fact the course satisfies the USCG exam requirements for an OUPV license endorsed for all inland waters of the US including all waters of Alaska. If you have 90 days of sea service on ocean waters the license will be endorsed for near coastal as well, meaning you can carry six or fewer passengers on all inland waters of the US and all ocean waters within 100 miles of shore.

Good Sailing,

Dennis

Sefl study for the upgrade from Master 100 to Master 200 is always an option. The USCG charges $100 for administering the exams and you will spend from $100 to $200 on study materials plus one to two months of study time depending on your level of experience and knowledge. Since the cost of the four day course is $600 this could save you from $300 to $400 plus the cost of travel to Portland. There are three exam modules required to upgrade a Master 100 ton near coastal license to Master 200 ton near coastal.

Exam module 011X3 Deck General, Safety and Environmental Protection (20 questions, 70% passing). This exam is generally heavy with inspected vessel regulations and stability, including several questions requiring stability calculations.

Exam module 054XX Rules of the Road (50 questions, 90% passing). This is a standard Rules of the Road exam.

Exam module 073XX Navigation General and Chart Navigation (20 questions, 90% passing) This exam takes all the elements from the 100 ton chart exam, adds a couple of new concepts, and puts it into a progressive format. They are generally always heavy in compass corrections (both magnetic and gyro), DR plotting, application of set and drift, and use of supporting publications. In addition they almost always include a tide and tidal current problem and a range and visibility of light problem in every exam.

Sir, my name is John, and I was trying too find out about upgrading to a 200 ton master, but am a little confused, maybe you could explain it a little better for me. I recieved my 100 ton master n/c lic. back in 06. at the time of all this I was working as and a/b unl. on a vessel over 1500 tons. I recieved my capt. indorsement by august. I kept working as and a/b with the promise of being placed as a captain on 1 of thier smaller vessel. which never happened. I left there and got hired as a captain and been doing it ever sinse. but nothing over 90 tons. Sir I have over 203.5, 12 hours days=305, and 363.5, 12 hours=545 days and counting. as captain. the bottom line is I read where you have to have the tonnage in the last 3 yrs. is this true. thanks for your time Sir. by the way when getting my lic. I renewed my stcw, and a/b. all need to be renewed by august 2011. Thanks again

John,

It sounds like you have plenty of sea service experience to upgrade your license from Master 100 tons to Master 200 tons. Here are the requirements:

Qualifying experience for the Master 200 ton near coastal license is two years on ocean waters (the GOM counts as ocean waters); one year of experience on the Great Lakes or inland waters may be used to meet this qualifying experience. One year of the qualifying experience must have been as master or mate while holding a license.

From what you say you have plenty of qualifying experience.

Tonnage limitations for licenses of 200 tons and less are issued in 50 ton increments rounding up based on the formula of either the maximum tonnage that 25% of your qualifying experience was on OR 150% of the maximum tonnage that 50% of your qualifying experience was on. This means that to qualify for a Master 200 ton license you need either 180 days on vessels over 150 tons or 360 days on vessels over 100 tons; to qualify for a Master 150 ton license you need either 180 days on vessels over 100 tons or 360 days on vessels over 67 tons.

From what you say you have plenty of qualifying tonnage.

The recent sea service requirement is 90 days of experience on vessels of appropriate size within the past three years.

Since you did not specify any dates of employment I cannot determine if any of your tonnage on vessels over 100 tons was in the past three years, but even if it is not you should still qualify for a Master 150 ton license based on your experience operating vessels under the authority of your Master 100 ton license. The Master 150 ton license can be easily upgrade to Master 200 ton without testing by gaining sea service experience operating vessels between 100 and 150 tons.

Good Sailing,

Dennis

Sea service experience is measured in eight-hour calendar days where any day that you are on a boat of any type or size for four-hours or more is counted as one eight-hour day. None commercial sea service experience is never credited for more than one day for each calendar day regardless of the number of hours. Sea service experience is counted as either inland or ocean experience. If the entire day was spent on waters shoreward of the boundary line (a line drawn between the end of the jetties or most seaward points of land) then that day is counted as an inland sea day, but if at any time during the day you sailed beyond the boundary line into ocean waters that entire day is considered an ocean sea day.

To document sea service experience on vessels of less than 200 tons use the small boat sea service form CG 719S. Use one form for each vessel you are claiming sea service experience on. The owner, operator, or master of the vessel must sign the form; if it is on a boat that you owned then you will need to provide proof of ownership. The USCG will only accept government issued ownership such as copies of documentation or state registration papers.

Providing documentation of sea service can be difficult for vessels where the owner, operator and master are deceased or for small non-power driven vessel that you owned that were not documented or state registered. You could attempt to provide testimony from relatives, but my experience is that the USCG is slow to except anything outside the norm when it comes to the application process or documenting sea service.

Dennis,

I was referred to you by Gcaptain.

I see that you offer a 100 to 200 ton upgrade course. I may have to come out there from Hawaii to do the class, do you recommend doing that? Or is it easier to just submit and test here in Honolulu?

Also, I am confused with sea time requirements. For a 100 ton to 200 ton upgrade, do I need 720 total days with 360 on my lic. as master or mate, with 180 days on vessels over 150 ton? Or 90 days on vessels over 150 ton?

I cant seem to figure out whether it is 90 or 180, and I get all different answers from other schools to even the Coast Guard…

Thanks!

Griffith

Griffith,

The requirements for Master 200 ton are often confused because two CRF parts need to be referenced.

The sea service requirements for Master 200 ton near coastal are contained in 46 CFR 10.426 and state that you need two years of total sea service. One year of the required service must have been as master or mate while holding a license.

The tonnage formula for licenses of less than 200 tons is contained in 46 CFR 10.422 and states that the tonnage limitations will be issued in 50 ton increments, rounded up. The limitation will be either the maximum tonnage that 25% of the qualifying experience was on or 150% of the maximum tonnage that 50% of the qualifying experience was on. Since two years of qualifying experience is required that means you need either 180 days on vessels over 150 tons OR 360 days on a vessel over 100 tons to qualify for a Master 200 ton license.

If you don’t have experience for a Master 200 ton you can qualify for a Master 150 ton near coastal with either 180 days on vessels over 100 tons or 360 days on vessels over 67 tons.

Note also that only one year of the qualifying experience must have been as master or mate while holding a license. This experience could have been on a 20 foot pleasure craft while the experience on the larger vessel could have been as a deckhand. There is no requirement that any of the qualifying experience be as master or mate of vessels over 100 tons.

The course I offer is four days ($600) and will satisfy the USCG exam requirements for upgrading a Master 100 ton near coastal license to master 200 tons near coastal. Anyone who qualifies for the license can self study and take the exams at the REC. The benefit of taking the class is you are finished in four days.

Good Sailing,

Dennis