How Long Does It Take To Get A Merchant Mariner Credential

Merchant Mariner Credential

The Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) is a credential issued by the United States Coast Guard in accordance with guidelines of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) to United States seafarers in order to prove bear witness of a mariner's qualifications.^[1] Information technology is the standard documentation required for all crew members of U.Southward. ships for all vessels required to operate with a licensed Primary or Operator, regardless of size. The MMC replaced the Merchant Mariner's Document, merchant mariner license, Certificate of Registry, and STCW Certificate.

Origin [edit]

The MMC contains professional qualification data previously listed on a merchant mariner license or Document of Registry as an officer endorsement, while information previously listed on a Merchant Mariner's Document is included as a rating endorsement. STCW endorsements are nonetheless listed equally STCW endorsements.

The combining of the mariner credentials was due to the requirement for U.South. mariners to obtain the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (or TWIC), a biometric security card issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that all workers in the transportation industry are required to obtain if their work involves access to a security-sensitive expanse. This reduced the number of documents needed to satisfy manning requirements from 5 to 2: The TWIC and MMC.

Previous to Apr xv, 2009, applications for credentials still had to be made in person at an REC to provide fingerprints and proof of identity. Now, TSA collects the fingerprints and proof of identity and forwards the information to the Declension Guard's National Maritime Centre (NMC). Mariners still have to visit a Regional Examination Center if they are required to take an test.

The kickoff Merchant Mariner Credential was issued on May seven, 2009, at a meeting of the Towing Safe Advisory Commission.^[two] Every bit of early on 2015, all active U.S. merchant mariners had been issued MMCs.

The credential was criticized by several groups upon introduction. One organisation said that the consolidation reduced the merchant marine officer license, a certificate of professional achievement and status, into a work permit.^[3] Another group suggested that the consolidation, together with STCW requirements, the TWIC requirement, and physical evaluation standards, stressed the skilled labor pool, posed too much of an administrative brunt, and threatened mariner recruitment, training and retention.^[4]

Physical clarification [edit]

Side-by-side comparison betwixt covers of US passport and an MMC.

The data page of a sample MMC. Annotation similarity to a passport.

The MMC is in the format of a traditional passport book. Like a passport, the cover is imprinted with the Great Seal of the United States and the text Usa. Unlike a passport, the cover is red-maroon in color (rather than the iv colors^[v] used for The states passports or travel documents: nighttime blue, black, maroon, and gray) and the text Merchant Mariner Credential appears in identify of Passport. Also, the encompass does not concur a contactless smart carte chip as do newer biometric passports (ePassport).

The MMC has 20 pages, exclusive of the front and back covers, sequentially numbered like the visa pages of a passport. Basic identity document information is folio 3. The MMC is not a passport, but it is a Seafarer'southward Identity Document and the format of the data page complies with the ICAO Machine Readable Travel Documents specifications for automobile-readable passports.^{[half dozen]} Rather than the document type of P used with U.s. government issued passports, a document type ^[7] of PG is used for MMCs.^[8]

License information in the form of domestic and international endorsements begin on folio four of the MMC and proceed every bit many pages required to list competencies held by the mariner. Domestic (46 CFR 10) and International (STCW Convention) license data are printed on split up pages. When the mariner gains a new competency while belongings an already valid MMC, the new competency is printed on a sticker which is placed on the side by side bachelor blank folio in the MMC, much similar a visa in a passport. Thus new MMCs are only produced for original and renewals; raises in grade, removal or limitations, or addition of endorsements do non require a new credential.

The mariner's reference number and the MMC's serial number are printed on the bottom of every page containing endorsement information and on all stickers issued to exist added. The endorsement pages are overprinted with a transparent plastic 'watermark' with the words 'Merchant Mariner Credential' and the seal of the United States.

MMC serial numbers are nine digits long, as required for a passport book, and padded with leading zeros.

The MMC has a clear plastic holder for the mariner's TWIC carte on the inside of the back cover.

The MMC is considered a form of Real ID and is therefore accustomed as proof of identity by the TSA.^[nine]

References [edit]

^ What is a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC)?
^ "Coast Guard issues beginning consolidated Merchant Mariner Credential". Piersystem.com. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-14 .
^ http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf101/466923_web.pdf^{[ permanent dead link ]}
^ http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf101/466852_web.pdf^{[ permanent dead link ]}
^ https://py.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/274/2017/05/CAHeader-TYPES-OF-PASSPORTS-Nov-22-2016.pdf^{[ blank URL PDF ]}
^ ICAO Medico 9303 Archived 2012-01-07 at the Wayback Machine.
^ The field labeled as Blazon on Us documents is formally defined as the Certificate Lawmaking by ICAO Doc 9303, Vol 1.
^ This is specifically discussed in ICAO Document 9303 Vol I, department ix.7, notation thousand, p. IV-17. The ICAO requires the first character of the certificate code to be P merely allows governments to add together a second character to the document lawmaking. The US Coast Guard uses Thou for MMCs.
^ "Identification | Transportation Security Administration".

External links [edit]

USCG National Maritime Center - Official website for MMC info
U.South. Coast Guard's Find of Proposed Rulemaking for the Merchant Mariner Credential