How Do I Get My USCG Master 100-GRT Near Coastal Captain's License?

There are five main paths to obtaining your 100 ton Master Captain's license. Your right path depends on how many sea days you have in the deck department while working on Near Coastal and Ocean Waters.

In addition to what you currently have, you should also think about what you want to do with your USCG License.

Tonnage limitations will apply if you are on smaller boats. Do not worry about them, just focus on getting the right type of license and then worry about tonnage limitations later! For a mate and a master under 200 GRT all you need is sea time while holding your license to remove the limits.

Here's a post that goes into greater detail about increasing tonnage limits.

Path 1 Go straight to Master 100 GRT Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.428

This is the most straightforward path to becoming a Master 100 GRT Near Coastal. You only need 720 sea days in the deck department, with 360 of them on Near Coastal or Ocean Waters.

Here's an in depth blog post for getting your Master 100 GRT Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.428

Path 2  Get your Master 200 GRT Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.426 with a tonnage limitation of 100 GRT

This is a much more complex path for people whose final goal is a Master 200 GRT Near Coastal. The path we recommend takes a few steps but it's great if you are low on sea days and cash right now.

Step 1: Obtaining your Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.427.

You only need 360 sea days in the deck department, with 180 of them on Near Coastal or Ocean Waters. Most 100 ton courses include Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal as one of the USCG Licenses you can obtain.

Note: Many USCG approved courses for 100 ton Master also include a 200 ton Mate if you read the fine print. We always recommend getting everything you're qualified for, so if you take a course that has an AND instead of an OR between the USCG licenses you can obtain with the course, get them!

Step 2: Increase in scope to a Master 200 GRT Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.426.

The great part is that you can Increase in Scope from Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal to Master 200 GRT Near Coastal without taking a test or course. All you need is seatime once you hold that Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal no matter what the tonnage limitation is!

To upgrade from Mate to Master, you need to sail an as OUPV and/or Mate for 360 more days with 180 of the sea days on Near Coastal or Ocean Waters. This will give you the total 720 sea days needed to quality for your Master license.

Path 3  Increase in Scope from Master 100 GRT Inland to Master 100 GRT Near Coastal

Because you hold a Master 100 GRT Inland under 46 CFR § 11.457 you can take an "Upgrade" course from Master 100 ton from Inland to Near Coastal. You need 720 sea days in the deck department, with 360 of them on Near Coastal or Ocean Waters.  

Here's an in depth blog post for increasing your Scope from Master 100 GRT Inland to Master 100 GRT Near Coastal

Path 4  Increase in Scope from Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal to Master 200 GRT Near Coastal with a tonnage limitation of 100 GRT.

Because you already hold your Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.427. You just need a total of 720 sea days in the deck department, with 360 of them as a Master, Mate or Operator while holding your MMC as a Master, Mate or OUPV and 360 of the sea days must be on Near Coastal or Ocean Waters.

The great part is that you can Increase in Scope from Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal to Master 200 GRT Near Coastal without taking a test or course. All you need is seatime once you hold that Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal no matter what the tonnage limitation is!

Here's an in depth blog post for increasing your Scope from Mate 200 GRT Near Coastal to Master 200 GRT Near Coastal with a tonnage limitation of 100 GRT.

Path 5  Increase in Scope from OUPV to Master 100 GRT Near Coastal

Because you hold a OUPV Inland or Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.467 you can take an "Upgrade" course from for OUPV to Master 100 ton Near Coastal. You only need 720 sea days in the deck department, with 360 of them on Near Coastal or Ocean Waters.

Here's an in depth blog post for increasing your Scope from OUPV to Master 100 GRT Near Coastal.

What about my tonnage?

To qualify for a 100 ton

If you have 180 days on vessels 51 GRT or larger OR 360 days on vessels 34 GRT or larger you qualify for a 100 ton.

To qualify for a 50 ton

If you have 180 days on vessels 26 GRT or larger OR 360 days on vessels 17 GRT or larger you qualify for a 50 ton.

I don't qualify for 50 or 100 ton with my current sea time. What do I do?

No worries! Tonnage limitations will apply if you are on smaller boats. This also makes sense as you will probably be working on smaller boats anyway. We recommend not worrying about them and just focus on getting the right type of license for what you currently want to do.

Tonnage limitations are really simple and easy to remove with just 90 sea days once you hold your new MMC! For a mate and a master under 200 GRT all you need is sea time while holding your license to remove them.  

We hope this made your life a little easier and if you have other questions the MM-SEAS team is always here to help!

MM-SEAS is free to use on your own and if you need some more personalized help you can upgrade to MM-SEAS Expert Access inside of the site.

No matter what, when you are ready to submit your application you can do it yourself, or you can hand the whole thing to us. An MM-SEAS Navita Navigator walks you through submitting in Navita, the Coast Guard's new submission portal, on a short video call. No computer, or not up for a video call? Our team gets your application submitted to the Coast Guard for you anyway. A Stress-Free MMC is $399. Two MM-SEAS licensing experts check every page, we pay your Coast Guard fees at submission and charge your card so you never touch pay.gov, and we stay on it with the National Maritime Center until your credential is issued.

MM-SEAS Expert Access is $99 a year. It is your personal guidance counselor for USCG licensing: what training you need next, which sea time counts, and how to reach the credential you want, by phone, email, chat or a 1 on 1 video call. Expert Access members also get $50 off a Stress-Free MMC.