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.

Are You Fit for Service?

Checklist for license renewal:

• Sea time letter(s): check
• Application completed: check
• Current form of identification: check
• Valid TWIC card: check
• Proof of drug testing: check
• Physical exam completed by doctor: check
• Checkbook to pay fees: check
• BMI under 40: HUH?

Last week, the USCG issued NVIC 04-08, which actually references about 80 pages of new regulations concerning the medical requirements to obtain or renew a USCG credential (i.e. license). The 80 or so pages are spread out in eight enclosures, numbered 1 through 6, but including 3a and 3b (hence the total of 8. Confused yet? Me too...)

So, what's the beef? Actually, the question is Where's the fat? Thats right, fat, as in body fat, sometimes measured as Body Mass Index, aka BMI. Lets cut right to the chase. Enclosure #2 lays out the Physical Ability Guidelines. Paragraph 2 states in part:

If the medical practitioner doubts the applicants ability to meet the guidelines....and for all applicants with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40.0 or higher, the practitioner shall require that the applicant demonstrate the ability to meet the guidelines.

Just down the page a bit, they provide a weblink to find out more about BMI. Well, I've done all the work for you. Just click here, enter your height and weight, and you can find out if your BMI is over 40.

Now, based on how many XXL and even XXXL shirts I helped Fiona sell at this year's C-PORT convention, I'm guessing there is a percentage of RedRightReturning readers who may tilt the BMI index a tad over that 40.0 benchmark. My personal BMI is about 34.

A BMI over 40 will not automatically disqualify you for service, but it will require your doctor to attest that you can climb ladders, crawl into small spaces, carry heavy fire hoses, that sort of thing. And, it will probably raise some flags when your application is reviewed by the examiner. A few too many doughnuts and next thing you know, they're checking for a history of dermatomyositis.

The list of ailments and medical conditions that could be an issue is so extensive, there is a 9 page alphabetical index [enclosure 3a] just to help you quickly figure out if your nerphrois is on the list (it is, condition #105). Ever had prostate cancer? That's condition #108. Ever had headaches? #162.

If you're really interested, see enclosure #3, which is only 32 pages long, and details 201 medical conditions (referenced in the index mentioned above), and the recommended steps for medical evaluation. If you had your cancerous prostate removed, is your bladder "competent"? There is enough stuff on this list, your entire family can play!

This whole thing is becoming more like the physical requirements that commercial jet pilots have to sustain to keep flying. My flight instructor now flys big jets for UPS, and you bet he has to keep in shape. Of course, he's making about one hundred Gs per year, so he can afford the Gold's Gym membership dues....whats in your wallet?

All TWIC Enrollment Sites Are Now Open and Ready for Business

Press release:

Sept. 17, 2008
TSA Public Affairs: (571) 227-2829
WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today announced that all Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) fixed enrollment sites are open and ready for worker registration. Port and longshore workers, truckers and others nationwide are now able to enroll in the Department of Homeland Security's TWIC program at any one of the nearly 150 sites.

[click here to go to the TSA announcment]

In case any captains out there still operate under the misunderstanding that they will not need a TWIC, here is a snippet from the official USCG
NAVIGATION AND VESSEL INSPECTION CIRCULAR NO. 03-07. (from page 7 of that document):

Also by (the deadline), all mariners will be required to hold a TWIC in order for their license, MMD, COR, or STCW endorsement to remain valid.

Without a TWIC, your license is invalid. Don't think you can wait. This whole program has been plagued by confusion, delays, and poor communications, especially on the part of the USCG, who at the local level are barely up to speed on this issue. I still see Internet forums with captains quoting local CG personel that they won't need a TWIC. Do not make the mistake of going to the USCG for advice about the TWIC. The USCG has made their official position very clear with the NVIC quoted above.

Bill to exempt some mariners from TWIC

Senator Coleman (R-MN) introduced the Small Marine Business and Fishing Guide Relief Act of 2008 (S. 3377) to amend title 46, United States Code, to waive the biometric transportation security card requirement for certain small business merchant mariners, and for other purposes. This bill, if enacted into law, would exempt from the requirement for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) merchant mariners serving on vessels the owner or operator of which is not required to submit a vessel security plan. The official text of the bill is not yet available, but an advance copy has been circulated.

Well, this news will throw a wrench into the works. I am skeptical about how far this bill might go. I think that the DHS and the USCG really wants every license holder to have a TWIC, but this bill could have a chance.

The TWIC has been rife with confusion, delays, extensions and completely unreliable deadlines since the beginning, so this somehow comes as no surprise.

If this bill passes, can I get my money back?

Thank you to John Fulweiler for bringing this to my attention.

License Creep

Are you aware of the concept of license creep? When you renew your USCG license, the new license will expire exactly 5 years from the date of issue of the renewed license. So, if you renew 5 months before your current license expires, you will loose 4 or 5 months of the fee you paid when you got the previous license. If you are on your 4th or 5th renewal, you may have lost over a year's worth of user fees.

Say you got your first license on January 1, 1980. You would have been required to renew in '85, '90, '95, 2000 and 2005 to be current today. So, you should be on the 6th issue of your license. But, if you always tried to be a good scout and renewed 6 months early each time, you would actually already be on your 7th issue rather than your 6th.

Here is the deal: you pay about $100 in fees to get a 5 year license, but you can only use all 60 months of that if you wait to the very last day to renew. Over the course of your career, you end up getting cheated, because you're paying fees based on a 60 month renewal cycle, but you are forced to "surrender" some of those months when you renew.

Well, the Coast Guard calls this license creep. They recognize that it happens, and they have put in place system to keep it at a minumum. Here is a link to the official Policy Letter that explains to the REC how to deal with the problem.

http://www.marinecompliance.org/downloads/Oct2003/NMC%2016721%20Policy%20Letter%2009-03%20Credentials%20Validity.pdf


When I renewed in December, I asked about this issue, but I didn't have this Policy Letter in hand, and the license examiner didn't seem to know anything about this policy and just kinda shrugged his shoulders and said "too bad"...

If your renewal is coming up, print this out and request "delayed issuance" of your next license.