SURVIVAL CRAFT / LIFEBOATMEN REQUIREMENTS FOR MARINERS

Sorry I should of posted this before the MMD requirements as it is best to also take this class before applying for the MMD.

In February of 2002 the Coast Guard started requiring mariners to get a survival craft or life boatman’s certificate endorsed on their Merchant Mariners Document depending on the mariner’s position or type of boat they worked on.

The new requirement meant that engineers of boats from 200 tons up to ships had to have survival craft training endorsed on their Merchant Mariners Document. What was required was to purchase a study guide from a Sea training school. After you received the study material you had to go home and study. When you felt like you knew everything the United States Coast Guard wanted you to know you then had to set up an appointment to take the test.

It was very inconvenient as it was but got worse. At a significant cost to mariners you also had to have the training endorsed on your Merchant Mariners Document and STCW certificate. While all training is good this course is routinely practiced onboard all vessels as part of the ongoing training all mariners receive. No specific incident happened to prompt this requirement.

Everyone one else was required to take a full life boatmen’s course. Again this is better practiced onboard your vessel but was now required. A life boatman endorsement was the only real difference between an Able Bodied Seaman and an Able Bodied Seaman unlimited. A ship is only allowed so many Able bodied Seamen and the rest will have to hold a special or unlimited endorsement. This meant the only real difference between the grades was time at sea it takes to get the unlimited status.

Captains and Mates who have been teaching this same material for decades now also have to go to this school and get the training endorsed o their documents. Not all boats have the same safety equipment so what is taught on each boat is specifically the safety equipment onboard that particular vessel. The Code Of Federal Regulations had already mandated training in this area for decades. The records of training are reviewed on a yearly basis by the Coast Guard and ABS.

The life boatmen’s training course consists of 2 days sitting in a class room reading study material and taking a written exam on the material. This course is expensive, in the 500$ range depending on the school you attend. The same study material can be learned from a 10$ Life boatmen’s book easily picked up in any maritime book store. It consists of basic material you learn in a few training sessions you receive on every boat. You also have 1 day of class where you will see a model life boat pretend launched. At least here you will see what a frapping line is if you never work on a boat with this type of life boat. There is a pretty good chance you will never see one. That is about half a day’s worth of talking. The other half of the day is actually spent in a small non motorized rescue boat. This is where you will see that you will never have the precision rowing abilities as the navy personal in the videos. You will also have to opportunity to call out a few rowing commands from the sixteen hundreds. Yes this is not a joke, the Approved Coast Guard method of calling rescue boat rowing commands is from the sixteen hundreds.

Watch a few pirate movies before hand and you may remember some of them five minutes after you are done. Fortunately this is the 21st century and most modern vessels will have a motorized rescue boat. If you end up on a boat with a pre historic rescue boat that needs to be paddled, fear not. The captain on the boat will have a real world system on if you ever use the rescue boat or not. In most instances this type of rescue boat would be deemed too dangerous to actually use at sea. In most instances the boat you are on is going to be used in a rescue not the rescue boat. The rescue boat would only be used in water to shallow for the actual boat.

GETTING A MMD TO WORK ON BOATS

While there is no easy clear cut line to explain what boats require you to hold a MMD a general rule of thumb is anything over 200 tons or bigger than a tug boat, a crew boat or a utility boat. Even most of these companies will want you to obtain a MMD because most of these companies will also have bigger boats. You will also want to get this to open up opportunities on larger boat that pay you a lot more for the same job.

A Merchant Mariners Document in its basic form is just a picture ID from The United States Coast Guard. It is also endorsement from the Coast Guard stating that you also meet requirements to advance you career in the maritime industry.

The process for obtaining a MMD is fairly straight forward. You can download and print the application forms directly from the United States Coast Guard’s web site or simply stop by a local sea school. You fill out the forms which will ask basic information about yourself; it will ask about your criminal past, do not lie about it. You will also need to take a physical and your doctor must fill out the form included in the Coast Guard application package. You will also need to provide either a letter from a company stating that you participate in random drug testing or go and pay for a DOT drug test at your local clinic and send it in with your application. You will also have to at least have a receipt proving you have applied for a TWIC card. This can be done in many locations visit the TSA’s website for a location near you. After you have everything you need together and mail it off you will have to wait about a week. After about a week you will need to go into your nearest Coast Guard Regional Exam Center and have your finger prints taken.

If you have any pending criminal issues get them taken care of first. The Coast Guard will know about them as soon as they start the FBI background check. Also if you have something on your criminal or driving record that is hidden or expunged you still have to tell them about it.
There is a whole section in the Code Of Federal Regulations on how the Coast Guard deals with different criminal offenses. In general misdemeanors are not held against you if it has been at least a year since your last conviction. The Coast Guard takes DWI and Reckless driving offenses very seriously. They follow the CFR to the letter most of the time. If you have a DWI or a reckless driving offense don’t waste your time, wait 1 year after the conviction and complete all your fines, probation, safe driving classes and whatever else the judge makes you do. Keep copies of all the completion records, you will have to prove to the Coast Guard you did what the judge asked. If you have more than 1 the second to last one will have to be 3 years old and the most recent will have to be a year old. If you have waited the nessesary time and provided all the proof the Coast Guard requires they will issue a letter of clearance to you that has to be signed and returned to them before they will issue you a document.

The Coast Guard also takes drug offenses extremely serious. Depending on the drug charge it could take 10 years before the Coast Guard will issue you any documents.

Most felony convictions carry long time limits that have to pass before the Coast Guard will issue you any documents. It could be anywhere between a year for a felony DWI to 10 or 20 years for murder. There is nothing that will stop you for forever.

After you get your documents remember any time you upgrade your credentials or renew then as they are only good for 5 years another criminal background check will be done and the same rules apply. If you already have documentation and get a DUI let’s say. If it is not a year old and every requirement asked of you met, the Coast Guard will not issue you documents, they will suspend them. You can request an administrative trial or except what punishment they give you and lose you document for however long they want.