Future Merchant Mariner Credential?

With the mandatory imposition of the TWIC, we heard some discussion about the future of the Merchant Mariner Credentials. Credentials are Licenses (like 100 ton or OUPV), Certificates (like STCW), Endorsements (like Radar), and the like. Basically, a Credential gives you the authority to preform certain duties, or proves your proficiency in training for certain tasks. Vessels can be documented, but a vessel's document is not a Credential. Merchant Mariner Documents (MMDs), on the other hand, are Credentials. Got it?

The USCG has been contemplating combining all your credentials into one place, and an idea that is gaining traction is a "passport" style booklet.

I got the monthly performance update from the Nat. Maritime Center, which you can see here. The update is just 16 page powerpoint style PDF that has lots of charts and nonsense that amounts to some self-congratulations on the part of the NMC.

Even a blind squirrel roots up an acorn once-in-awhile. On page six I found this very interesting little picture, a copy of which you see here. The graphic implies that this passport style Merchant Mariner Credential is the product of the NMC credential center. A sign of things to come?

You saw it here first (unless you saw it someplace else already...)

Upside: this will be much easier to carry around than the current 8x10 license.