One Ton Short

**Deckplate Dan** · April 10th, 2011, 01:16 PM

Need some help with a license requirement. I'm getting a prospective job offer from a ferry company for an entry deck position (temporary). For the 3rd A/E licence, I'm allowed 90 days of deck toward the sea service. I asked about their vessels weights, and was told that they have a certificate from the Coast Guard as all their vessels are 99 tons or less, so's their captains could work with a 100 ton license. But in reality most of their vessels are a little over 100 tons. So my question is, will the Coast Guard sign off with this? Its' not worthwhile to accept this position if they wont. Thx.

**cappy208** · April 10th, 2011, 03:28 PM

Your post is confusing. How do you KNOW what the vessels tonnage is? If they are under 100 GT then a Tboat license is all that is needed. Where are you getting the 'little over 100 tons' from?

Are you soon applying for a 3AE license? Do you have other tonnage/HP experience?

**BMCSRetired** · April 10th, 2011, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by Deckplate Dan

... in reality most of their vessels are a little over 100 tons.

Reality is whatever deal they (in this case the owner and the CG Inspector) came up with and is documented on the Certificate of Inspection.

As far as documentation and licensing is concerned, until the NTSB gets involved, that is REALITY.

**jdcavo** · April 11th, 2011, 04:03 AM

What license are you applying for? 3rd Mate requires all time to be on 200 GRT or more. Maye 1600 only requires a portion of the time to be over 100 GRT, annd Mate 500 only requires a portion to be over 50 GRT. But, if the requirement is for time on or over 100 GRT, 99 GRT won't be accepted.

**Kennebec Captain** · April 11th, 2011, 04:17 AM

Originally Posted by Deckplate Dan

I asked about their vessels weights, and was told that they have a certificate from the Coast Guard as all their vessels are 99 tons or less, so's their captains could work with a 100 ton license. But in reality most of their vessels are a little over 100 tons..

Tons in this case is not a measure of weight but of volume. The tons in Gross Registered Tons (GRT) and Net Registered Tons (NRT) both refer to 100 cubic feet. The weight of a vessel is it's displacement which is not used for manning and licensing regulations and so forth.

K.C.

**Deckplate Dan** · April 11th, 2011, 09:13 AM

Thanks Y'all, I just got a QMED w/ any rating. All of my sea time was long ago in the Navy, I have no recency at all. I was trying to determine how much more time I needed to take the 3rd A/E exam.I believe I have more than the 1080 days required in the engine room. I could need as little as the 90 days of recency? As far as the 100 GRT size estimate goes, I was taking the word of the hiring manager. He says he thinks the vessels are a little over 100, but their certificate lists them as 99. That being the case, I 'd think I'd need to find something else.

**Robert** · April 11th, 2011, 09:22 AM

Recency is 90 days in the past 3 years.

**jdcavo** · April 11th, 2011, 02:26 PM

For recency, the time has to be "qualifying" meaning it can meet any of the service requirements. So if only a portion needs to be over 100 GRT, time under 100 GRT can be used for recency, as long as it doesn't exceed the maximum permitted for that particular type of time.