1625-0040 46cfr10.205

§ 10.204

46 CFR Ch. I (10–1–07 Edition)

§ 10.204 Right of appeal.
Any person directly affected by a decision or action taken under this part,
by or on behalf of the Coast Guard,
may appeal therefrom in accordance
with subpart 1.03 of this chapter.

yshivers on PROD1PC62 with CFR

[CGD 88–033, 54 FR 50379, Dec. 6, 1989]

§ 10.205 Requirements for original licenses, certificates of registry, and
STCW certificates and endorsements.
(a) General. The applicant for an
original license or certificate of registry must present satisfactory documentary evidence of eligibility with respect to the applicable requirements of
§ 10.201 through § 10.203. Each applicant
must submit an application as set forth
in § 10.105 and, unless exempted under
§ 10.112, submit the evaluation fee set
out in table 10.109 in § 10.109.
(b) Minimum age. The applicant shall
present satisfactory proof of age as prescribed in § 10.201(f). This evidence may
be any of the items submitted to establish citizenship.
(c) Citizenship. Each applicant must
provide acceptable evidence of his or
her citizenship to the Coast Guard. The
Coast Guard will reject any evidence of
citizenship that we do not believe to be
authentic. ‘‘Acceptable evidence of
citizenship’’ means an original of any
one of the following documents:
(1) Original or a certified copy of a
birth certificate, issued by a State,
county, municipality or outlying possession of the U.S. bearing an official
seal.
(2) Merchant mariner’s document
issued by the Coast Guard after February 3, 2003 that shows that the holder
is a citizen of the U.S.;
(3) Certificate of Citizenship issued
by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Immigration and
Naturalization Service;
(4) Certificate of Naturalization
issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Immigration
and Naturalization Service; or
(5) Unexpired U.S. State Department
passport.
(d) Physical examination. (1) All applicants for an original license must pass
an examination given by a licensed
physician or a licensed physician assistant and present to the OCMI a com-

pleted Coast Guard physical examination form, or the equivalent, executed
by the physician. This form must provide information on the applicant’s
acuity of vision, color sense, and general physical condition. This examination must have been completed prior to
submission of the application and not
more than 12 months prior to issuance
of the license. (Physical examinations
are not required for staff officers.)
(2) For an original license as master,
mate, pilot, or operator, the applicant
must have vision correctable to at
least 20/40 in each eye and uncorrected
vision of at least 20/200 in each eye. The
color sense must be determined to be
satisfactory when tested by any of the
following methods, without the use of
color sensing lenses:
(i)
Pseudoisochromatic
Plates
(Dvorine, 2nd Edition; AOC; revised
edition or AOC-HRR; Ishihara 16-, 24-,
or 38-plate editions).
(ii) Eldridge—Green Color Perception
Lantern.
(iii) Farnsworth Lantern.
(iv) Keystone Orthoscope.
(v) Keystone Telebinocular.
(vi) SAMCTT (School of Aviation
Medicine Color Threshold Tester).
(vii) Titmus Optical Vision Tester.
(viii) Williams Lantern.
(3) For an original license as engineer, radio officer, offshore installation
manager, barge supervisor or ballast
control operator, the applicant must
have correctable vision of at least 20/50
in each eye and uncorrected vision of
at least 20/200 in each eye. Applicants
need only to have the ability to distinguish the colors red, green, blue and
yellow.
(4) Where an applicant does not possess the vision, hearing, or general
physical condition necessary, the
OCMI, after consultation with the examining physician or physician’s assistant, may recommend a waiver to
the Commandant if extenuating circumstances warrant special consideration. Applicants may submit to the
OCMI,
additional
correspondence,
records and reports in support of this
request. In this regard, recommendations from agencies of the Federal Government operating government vessels,
as well as owners and operators of private vessels, made on behalf of their

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§ 10.205

employees, will be given full consideration. Waivers are not normally granted to an applicant whose corrected vision in the better eye is not at least 20/
40 for deck licenses or 20/50 for engineer
licenses.
(e) Experience or training. (1) All applicants for original licenses and certificates of registry shall present to the
OCMI, letters, discharges, or other documents certifying the amount and
character of their experience and the
names, tonnage and horsepower of the
vessels on which acquired. The OCMI
must be satisfied as to the authenticity
and acceptability of all evidence of experience or training presented. Certificates of discharge are returned to the
applicant. The OCMI shall note on the
application that service represented by
these documents has been verified. All
other documentary evidence of service,
or authentic copies thereof, are filed
with the application. A license is not
considered as satisfactory evidence of
any qualifying experience.
(2) No original license or certificate
of registry may be issued to any naturalized citizen on less experience in
any grade or capacity than would have
been required of a citizen of the United
States by birth.
(3) Experience and service acquired
on foreign vessels is creditable for establishing eligibility for an original license, subject to evaluation by the
OCMI to determine that it is a fair and
reasonable equivalent to service acquired on merchant vessels of the
United States, with respect to grade,
tonnage, horsepower, waters, and operating conditions. An applicant who has
obtained qualifying experience on foreign vessels shall submit satisfactory
documentary evidence of such service
(including any necessary translation
into English) in the forms prescribed
by paragraph (e)(1) of this section.
(4) No applicant for an original license who is a naturalized citizen, and
who has obtained experience on foreign
vessels, will be given an original license in a grade higher than that upon
which he or she has actually served
while acting under the authority of a
foreign license.
(f) Character check and references. (1)
Each applicant for an original license
shall submit written recommendations

concerning the applicant’s suitability
for duty from a master and two other
licensed officers of vessels on which the
applicant has served. For a license as
engineer or as pilot, at least one of the
recommendations must be from the
chief engineer or licensed pilot, respectively, of a vessel on which the applicant has served. For a license as engineer where service was obtained on vessels not carrying a licensed engineer
and for a license as master or mate
(pilot) of towing vessels, the recommendations may be by recent marine employers with at least one recommendation from a master, operator,
or person in charge of a vessel upon
which the applicant has served. For a
license as offshore installation manager, barge supervisor, or ballast control operator, at least one recommendation must be from an offshore
installation manager of a unit on
which the applicant has served. Where
an applicant qualifies for a license
through an approved training school,
one of the character references must be
an official of that school. For a license
for which no commercial experience
may be required, such as: Master or
mate 25–200 gross tons, operator of
uninspected passenger vessels, radio officer or certificate of registry, the applicant may have the written recommendations of three persons who
have knowledge of the applicant’s suitability for duty.
(2) The OCMI may review the criminal record check of each applicant for
an original license or certificate of registry according to the procedures set
forth in § 10.201(h).
(3) A person may apply for an original license, or license of a different
type, while on probation as a result of
administrative action under part 5 of
this chapter. The offense for which the
applicant was placed on probation will
be considered in determining his or her
fitness to hold the license applied for.
A license issued to an applicant on probation will be subject to the same probationary conditions as were imposed
against the applicant’s other license or
merchant mariner’s document. An applicant may not take an examination
for a license during any period when a

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§ 10.205

46 CFR Ch. I (10–1–07 Edition)

suspension without probation or a revocation is effective against the applicant’s currently held license or merchant mariner’s document, or while an
appeal from these actions is pending.
(4) In the event a license or certificate of registry has already been issued
when information about the applicant’s
habits of life and character is brought
to the attention of the OCMI, if such
information warrants the belief that
the applicant cannot be entrusted with
the duties and responsibilities of the license or certificate of registry issued,
or if such information indicates that
the application for the license or certificate of registry was false or incomplete, the OCMI may notify the holder
in writing that the license or certificate of registry is considered null and
void, direct the holder to return it to
the OCMI, and advise the holder that,
upon return of the license or certificate
of registry, the appeal procedures of
§ 10.204 of this part apply.
(g) Firefighting certificate. Applicants
for the licenses in the following categories must present a certificate of
completion from a firefighting course
of instruction which has been approved
by the Commandant. The course must
meet both the basic and advanced sections of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Resolution A.437
(XI) Training of Crews in Firefighting.
The course must have been completed
within five years before the date of application for the license requested.
(1) Master’s license for service on vessels of 200 gross tons or less in ocean
service.
(2) All master or mate’s licenses for
over 200 gross tons.
(3) All licenses for master or mate of
towing vessels for ocean service.
(4) All licenses on mobile offshore
drilling units.
(5) All engineer’s licenses.
(h) First aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course certificates. All
applicants for an original license or
certificate of registry, except as provided in §§ 10.429, 10.456, and 10.467 of
this part, must present to the OCMI:
(1) A certificate indicating completion of a first aid course within the
past 12 months from:
(i) The American National Red Cross
Standard First Aid and Emergency Care

or Multi-media Standard First Aid
course;
(ii) A Coast Guard approved first aid
training course; or,
(iii) A course the OCMI determines
meets or exceeds the standards of the
American Red Cross courses; and,
(2) A currently valid certificate of
completion of a CPR course from:
(i) The American National Red Cross;
(ii) The American Heart Association;
(iii) A Coast Guard approved CPR
training course; or,
(iv) A course the OCMI determines
meets or exceeds the standards of the
American Red Cross or American Heart
Association courses.
(i) Professional Examination. (1) When
the OCMI finds the applicant’s experience and training to be satisfactory
and the applicant is eligible in all
other respects, the OCMI will authorize
the examination in accordance with
the following requirements:
(i) Any applicant for a deck or engineer license limited to vessels not exceeding 500 gross tons, or a license limited to uninspected fishing-industry
vessels, may request an oral-assisted
examination in lieu of any written or
other textual examination. If there are
textual questions that the applicant
has difficulty reading and understanding, the OCMI will offer the oralassisted examination. Each license
based on an oral-assisted examination
is limited to the specific route and type
of vessel upon which the applicant obtained the majority of service.
(ii) The general instructions for administration of examinations and the
lists of subjects for all licenses appear
in Subpart I of this part. The OCMI
will place in the applicant’s file a
record indicating the subjects covered.
(2) When the license application of
any person has been approved, the applicant should take the required examination as soon as practicable. If the
applicant cannot be examined without
delay at the office where the application is made, the applicant may request that the examination be given at
another office.
(3) The qualification requirements
for radar observer are contained in
§ 10.480.

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§ 10.205

(4) An examination is not required
for a license as radio officer or a certificate of registry.
(j) Chemical testing for dangerous
drugs. To obtain a license or certificate
of registry each applicant shall produce
evidence of having passed a chemical
test for dangerous drugs or of qualifying for an exception from testing in
§ 16.220 of this subchapter. An applicant
who fails a chemical test for dangerous
drugs will not be issued a license or
certificate of registry.
(k) National Driver Register. Each applicant for an original license or certificate of registry shall consent to an
NDR check under § 10.201(i).
(l) Basic safety training or instruction.
Except as provided in § 10.202, an STCW
certificate or endorsement will be
issued only when the candidate provides evidence of having achieved or, if
training has been completed, having
maintained the minimum standards of
competence for the following 4 areas of
basic safety within the previous 5 years
upon assessment of a practical demonstration of skills and abilities:
(1) Personal survival techniques as
set out in table A-VI/1-1 of the STCW
Code (incorporated by reference in
§ 10.102).
(2) Fire prevention and fire-fighting
as set out in table A-VI/1-2 of the
STCW Code (also incorporated by reference in § 10.102).
(3) Elementary first aid as set out in
table A-VI/1-3 of the STCW Code (also
incorporated by reference in § 10.102).
(4) Personal safety and social responsibilities as set out in table A-VI/1-4 of
the STCW Code (also incorporated by
reference in § 10.102).
(m) Competence in the use of Automatic
Radar-Plotting Aids (ARPA). (1) Subject
to paragraph (m)(2) of this section, and
except as otherwise provided in § 10.202,
each candidate for an STCW certificate
as master or mate for service on vessels in ocean or near-coastal service,
shall present a certificate of completion from an approved course or from
accepted training on an ARPA simulator. The course or training must be
sufficient to establish that the applicant is competent to maintain safe
navigation through the proper use of
ARPA, by correctly interpreting and
analyzing the information obtained

from that device and taking into account both the limitations of the
equipment and the prevailing circumstances and conditions. The simulator used in the course or training
must meet or exceed the performance
standards established under STCW
Regulation I/12 of the 1995 Amendments.
(2) Training and assessment in the
use of ARPA are not required for mariners serving exclusively on vessels not
fitted with ARPA. However, when any
mariner so serving has not completed
it, his or her STCW certificate or endorsement will be endorsed to indicate
this limitation.
(n) Certificate for operator of radio in
the Global Maritime Distress and Safety
System (GMDSS). (1) Subject to paragraph (n)(2) of this section, and except
as otherwise provided by § 10.202, each
candidate for an STCW certificate as
master or mate for service in vessels in
ocean or near-coastal service, shall
present—
(i) A certificate for operator of radio
in the GMDSS issued by the Federal
Communication Commission (FCC);
and
(ii) A certificate of completion from
a Coast Guard-approved or accepted
course for operator of radio in the
GMDSS or from another approved or
accepted program of training and assessment covering the same areas of
competence. The course or program
must be sufficient to establish that the
applicant is competent to perform
radio duties on a vessel participating
in the GMDSS and meets the standard
of competence under STCW Regulation
IV/2.
(2) Paragraph (n)(1) of this section
does not apply to a candidate intending
to serve only as a pilot, or intending to
serve only on vessels not required to
comply with the provisions of the
GMDSS in Chapter IV of the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974,
as amended (SOLAS).
(3) Each candidate presenting a certificate described in paragraph (n)(1) of
this section may have his or her STCW
certificate suitably endorsed with his
or her GMDSS qualification.
(o) Procedures for bridge team work.
Except as otherwise provided by
§ 10.202, each candidate for an STCW

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§ 10.207

46 CFR Ch. I (10–1–07 Edition)

certificate as master or mate for service on vessels in ocean or near-coastal
service, shall present sufficient documentary proof that he or she understands and can effectively apply procedures for bridge team work as an essential aspect of maintaining a safe navigational watch, taking into account
the principles of bridge-resource management enumerated in Section B-VIII/
2 of the STCW Code.
(p) Practical demonstration of skills.
Each candidate for an original license
shall successfully complete any practical demonstrations required under
this part and appropriate to the particular license concerned, to prove that
he or she is sufficiently proficient in
skills required under subpart I of this
part. The OCMI must be satisfied as to
the authenticity and acceptability of
all evidence that each candidate has
successfully completed the demonstrations required under this part in the
presence of a designated examiner. The
OCMI will place in the file of each candidate a written or electronic record of
the skills required, the results of the
practical demonstrations, and the identification of the designated examiner
in whose presence the requirements
were fulfilled.
[CGD 81–059 and CGD 81–059a, 52 FR 38623 and
38666, Oct. 16, 1987]

yshivers on PROD1PC62 with CFR

EDITORIAL NOTE: For FEDERAL REGISTER citations affecting § 10.205, see the List of CFR
Sections Affected, which appears in the
Finding Aids section of the printed volume
and on GPO Access.

§ 10.207 Requirements for raises of
grades of licenses.
(a) General. Before any person is
issued a raise of grade of license, the
applicant must present satisfactory
documentary evidence of eligibility
with respect to the applicable requirements of §§ 10.201, 10.202, and this section. Each applicant must submit an
application as set forth in § 10.105, and,
unless exempted under § 10.112, submit
the evaluation fee set out in table
10.109 in § 10.109.
(b) Surrendering old license. Upon the
issuance of a new license for raise of
grade, the applicant shall surrender the
old license to the OCMI. If requested,
the old license is returned to the applicant after cancellation.

(c) Age, experience, training, and assessment. (1) Each applicant for a raise
of grade of license shall establish that
he or she possesses the age, experience,
and training necessary, and has been
examined and otherwise assessed as
may be required by this part to establish competence to hold the particular
license requested, before he or she is
entitled to a raise in grade of license.
(2) Applicants for raise of grade of license shall present to the OCMI at a
Regional Examination Center, letters,
discharges, or other official documents
certifying to the amount and character
of their experience and the names of
the vessels on which acquired. Certificates of discharge are returned to the
applicant after review by the OCMI. All
other documentary evidence of service,
or copies thereof, are filed with the application.
(3) Sea service acquired prior to the
issuance of the license held is generally
not accepted as any part of the service
required for raise of grade of that license. However, service acquired prior
to issuance of a license will be accepted
for certain crossovers, endorsements or
increases in scope of a license, as appropriate. In the limited tonnage categories for deck licenses, total accumulated service is a necessary criterion
for most raises in grade; service acquired prior to the issuance of such licenses will, therefore, be accepted.
(4) No raise of grade of license may be
issued to any naturalized citizen on
less experience in any grade than
would have been required of a citizen of
the United States by birth.
(5) Experience and service acquired
on foreign vessels while holding a valid
U. S. license is creditable for establishing eligibility for a raise of grade,
subject to evaluation by the OCMI to
determine that it is a fair and reasonable equivalent to service acquired on
merchant vessels of the United States,
with respect to grade, tonnage, horsepower, waters and operating conditions. An applicant who has obtained
the qualifying experience on foreign
vessels shall submit satisfactory documentary evidence of such service (including any necessary translations into
English) in the forms prescribed by
paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

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