Sea service for USCG Licensing while performing bridge watchkeeping duties under supervision

The USCG Licenses of 500 GRT Mate Near Coastal and 1600 GRT Mate Near Coastal need you to provide documentation that you were performing bridge watchkeeping duties under the supervision of the master or a qualified officer.

This can be done as a member of the deck department including as a training mate, an OS, AB or any other title that your company uses for someone who is standing bridge watch and helping out.

In addition to actually sailing in this capacity, you also need to provide the paperwork to back it up.  

The most common way is for your employer to provide the text below into your annual sea service letter.

<MARINER NAME> served on <VESSEL NAME> from <START DATE ON LETTER> to <END DATE ON LETTER>.  <MARINER NAME> served as a <POSITION SERVED> for <NUMBER OF DAYS SUPERVISED> while performing bridge watchkeeping duties under the supervision of the master or a qualified officer.

If you are or were an active duty service member and you were sailing as a Junior Officer of the Deck (JOOD) that time will also count as performing bridge watchkeeping duties under the supervision of the master or a qualified officer.

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 Pro inside of the site.

No matter what, when you are ready to submit your application, you can choose to have the MM-SEAS staff create a perfect application, handle the USCG application fees and work with the USCG on your behalf to resolve any issues for a flat fee of $349 or you can choose to submit on your own.

Pro MM-SEAS members get access to unlimited live 1 on 1 calls with one of our USCG Licensing Specialists. We've found that answering questions live with screen sharing in a video call makes both of our lives easier. Pro MM-SEAS members can access these features inside of MM-SEAS under License Guidance.