Honest opinion on route to up grade.

[tugboat4life68]

Hello every one.
I am a holder of an USCG ticket as master 200 grt/500 itc inland. Mate of towing near coastal. Lately I have been trying to turn the whole ticket into near coastal but now here comes these new requirements and I am considering getting my 1600 inland and then later try to finish whaever is necessary to turn the ticket into near coastal simply because these new requirements will make it harder to get the 1600 N/C I am setting my goal for. Do you think this maneuver would be a good idea?
Thank you all for your hostest reply.

[Cal]

The requirements you are referring to are the STCW requirements, most (not all) of them relate to OICNW. They do not currently apply to 200GRT/500ITC, they apply to 500GRT and above. If you held a license prior to their implementation in 2001, then you should be grandfathered in and most won't apply anyway. However, if you didn't hold a license prior to that time, I don't think obtaining the 1600GRT inland is going to help you circumvent those requirements. I don't think it can hurt, but I don't think it will help you reach your goal any easier or quicker. Good luck.

[tugboat4life68]

Cal, thank you for the reply. I guess I got screw in this one, I got my first license in 2004 and it seems that I won't be able to beat these new requirements. Well I guess my next option is to turn my whole license into near coastal and then build on the other OICNW requirements and take it from there. It's getting harder to make it out here..lol... ! Once again, thank you for your input.


Best regards.

[C.R_F]

Take a look at the NMC'S checklist for Master 500/1600 Inland http://www.uscg.mil/nmc/checklists.asp. The difference between inland and N/C STCW requirements are not huge. Go with the biggest you can, while you can. I think the OICNW currently applies to Mates in the Oceans and Near Coastal 500/1600 range but, it may change in the near future.

CRF

[Capt. Fran]

I guess I got screw in this one, I got my first license in 2004 and it seems that I won't be able to beat these new requirements. It's getting harder to make it out here..lol... !

You didn't get 'screw'ed, tbl68, you just have to comply with the regs like the rest of us. And I wouldn't call these requirements new, either. STCW was originally ratified in 1978 and then amended in 1995, and mostly implemented here in the US in 2002. All of those events happened before you got your first license. So suck it up, quit whining and decide what you want to do with your license.

Here are your choices: 1) increase the scope of your 200 to near coastal; 2) upgrade to 500 or 1600 nc now and take the 6 mos of OICNW courses; 3) wait and upgrade to 1600 nc later (because all signs point to the 500 going away), and take the 6 mos of OICNW courses.

[tugboat4life68]

Aye aye captn! I guess I'm gonna go this route you just told me, turn my 200 to N/C and do the upgrading thereafter and stop whinning!
Thank you for the advice.

[tugboat4life68]

Aye aye captn! I guess I'm gonna go this route you just told me, turn my 200 to N/C and do the upgrading thereafter and stop whinning!
Thank you for the advice.