The most common way is to become a Master 100 GRT Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.428, which you will need to provide the USCG 720 sea days in the deck department, with 360 of them on Near Coastal or Ocean Waters. You hold your OUPV Inland or Near Coastal under 46 CFR § 11.467 which means you're already halfway there.
If you hold an OUPV Inland or Near Coastal license under 46 CFR § 11.467 and want to upgrade to a Master 100 GRT Near Coastal, we recommend taking a USCG-approved "Upgrade" course. These short courses are designed to meet USCG testing requirements, including Q170 (Deck General/Safety), Q171 (Navigation General: Near Coastal), and Q165 (Navigation and Deck General/Safety). You’ll need at least 720 days of sea service in the deck department, with 360 of those days on Near Coastal or Ocean waters.
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. Here's a blog post that goes into detail.
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.
Need to renew, upgrade or get your first USCG license? We're here to help.
About the author
Nate Gilman is President and Co-Founder of MM-SEAS. He hawsepiped from the deck to a 3rd Mate Unlimited license with full STCW compliance over more than 15 years at sea, and is a veteran of the NOAA Commissioned Corps. He works directly with the National Maritime Center, USCG-approved training schools, and vessel operators on credentialing policy, and writes on sea service documentation, evaluation standards, and how mariners move up the license ladder.
