Sea Time Requirements — OUPV Routes and Master Service Credit

What the rule requires

A sea service question does not ask you to define experience. It hands you a service record and asks which endorsement it supports, or hands you an endorsement and asks what service built it. Work it in that direction and the distractors fall away.

The scope of the endorsement

The OUPV endorsement covers an uninspected vessel of less than 100 GRT, with propulsion machinery of any type, carrying six or fewer passengers. That is the whole authority, and it is where the "six-pack" name comes from.

The route ladder

Instructors normally teach the three routes as a ladder rather than as three separate paragraphs, and the sources support that reading. A near-coastal OUPV endorsement limits the holder to domestic near-coastal waters not more than 100 miles offshore, the Great Lakes, and all inland waters — the top rung carries the rungs beneath it. An endorsement issued for inland waters includes all inland waters except the Great Lakes.

That exception is the lossy part of the ladder, and it is where the ladder image will cost you if you stop there. Inland is not simply "everything sheltered." The Great Lakes are carved out of the inland endorsement by name, which is why a separate Great Lakes and inland route exists at all.

The service behind each rung

Near-coastal — a minimum of 12 months of experience in the operation of vessels, including at least 3 months of service on vessels operating on ocean or near-coastal waters.
Great Lakes and inland — 12 months of service on Great Lakes or inland waters, including at least 3 months of service operating vessels on Great Lakes waters.
Inland — a minimum of 12 months of experience in the operation of vessels, with no further qualification as to waters.

Read those three again for what changes and what does not. The 12-month figure never moves. The near-coastal and inland routes place no restriction on where the bulk of the 12 months was earned; the Great Lakes and inland route does, confining the entire 12 months to Great Lakes or inland waters. That single asymmetry is the most reliable discriminator on this topic, and it is the one candidates most often miss because they are scanning for the 3-month block and stop reading.

An applicant has 12 months operating a crew boat, all of it on ocean and near-coastal waters, and applies for an OUPV inland endorsement. Does the service qualify?

Yes. The inland route requires a minimum of 12 months of experience in the operation of vessels and imposes no restriction on the waters. Ocean and near-coastal service is experience in the operation of vessels. The same record also carries far more than the 3 months of ocean or near-coastal service the near-coastal route requires, so the applicant is qualified for the higher route and should be asked why they are applying for the lower one. 46 CFR §11.467

The two short-service doors

Two paragraphs cut the service requirement to 3 months, and both buy that reduction by narrowing the endorsement severely.

A limited OUPV endorsement may be issued to an applicant employed by an organization such as a formal camp, yacht club, educational institution, or marina, and is limited to the specific activity and the locality of that camp, yacht club, or marina. The applicant needs 3 months of service in the operation of the type of vessel requested, satisfactory completion of a safe-boating course approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators or a public education course conducted by the U.S. Power Squadron or the American National Red Cross or a Coast Guard-approved course, and a pass on a limited examination appropriate to the activity and route. First aid and CPR certificates are additionally required where, in the Coast Guard's opinion, the geographic area precludes obtaining medical services within a reasonable time.

A restricted OUPV endorsement covers applicants employed on inland navigable waters and is limited to specific bodies of water approved by the cognizant OCMI. Here the applicant must otherwise be qualified under the section, but the OCMI may modify service and examination: at least 3 months of service in the operation of the type of vessel and on each body of water for which the endorsement is requested, and a pass on an examination appropriate to the activity and waters.

One further restriction sits at the end of the section: an OUPV applicant who speaks Spanish but not English may be issued an endorsement restricted to the navigable waters of the United States in the vicinity of Puerto Rico.

What the quick reference table will and will not give you

Open book, the fastest route to a sea service answer is the quick reference table, which provides a guide to the requirements for officer endorsements — with the caveat printed above it that the provisions in the referenced section are controlling. 46 CFR §10.239

The OUPV row sends you to §11.467(c) through (g) for experience and nowhere else. The master and mates row sends you to 46 CFR Part 11, Subpart D. Two other cells in the OUPV row decide questions on their own: firefighting is N/A for OUPV, where master and mates points to §11.201(h); and demonstration of professional ability is N/A for OUPV, which still owes a professional examination under §§11.201(j), 11.903 and 11.910. Age eligibility is §11.201(e), with OUPV-specific exceptions noted at §11.201(l).

Recency

Recency is separate from the 12 months and is tested separately. The table gives the figure outright in two places: a raise of grade requires 3 months in the past 3 years under §11.201(c)(2), and an officer renewal requires 1 year in the past 5 under §10.227(e) and (f), with an alternative noted. For an original endorsement the table carries only the pointer to §11.201(c)(2) rather than the value, so go to that paragraph and read it — do not answer from the raise-of-grade cell sitting a few rows below it.

Master service in the sources: master (OSV)

The one master-level service requirement quantified here is master of offshore supply vessels. For OSVs of less than 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT it is 24 months of total service as mate, chief mate, or master of ocean or near-coastal and/or Great Lakes on self-propelled vessels of more than 100 GRT, with at least one-half of that experience served as chief mate. Service on inland waters may substitute for up to 50 percent of the requirement. 46 CFR §11.493

For 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT or more the 24 months and the ocean/near-coastal/Great Lakes character are unchanged, and the chief-mate half must additionally be obtained on vessels of 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT or more. No inland substitution is offered in that paragraph. An applicant who cannot meet that large-vessel chief-mate half does not fail; a tonnage limitation is placed on the endorsement instead.

Telling it apart

The three OUPV routes differ on one criterion only: which waters the service had to come from. Everything else about them is identical.

Near-coastal — 12 months anywhere, plus 3 months on vessels operating on ocean or near-coastal waters. Most often misfiled: a record with 3 months on the Great Lakes and no ocean time, which does not satisfy this paragraph however extensive the rest of the record is.
Great Lakes and inland — all 12 months confined to Great Lakes or inland waters, plus 3 months operating on the Great Lakes. Most often misfiled: 9 months of coastwise crew-boat time plus 3 months on Lake Erie, where the coastwise time falls outside the 12-month pool this paragraph specifies.
Inland — 12 months in the operation of vessels, no qualifying block. Most often misfiled: assuming this endorsement reaches the Great Lakes, which it does not.
Limited and restricted — 3 months, tied respectively to an employing organization's activity and locality, or to specific bodies of water approved by the OCMI. Most often misfiled as a general shortcut to a full OUPV.

Working a question

Determining the route from a service record

A candidate presents 12 months of documented operating service: 9 months on a 40-foot charter boat on inland rivers and bays, and 3 months running a launch on Lake Michigan. No ocean or near-coastal service.

Test the top rung first, because the endorsement issued should be the highest the record supports. Near-coastal needs 3 months on vessels operating on ocean or near-coastal waters. The record contains none. Near-coastal fails, and Great Lakes time does not stand in for it under this paragraph.
Test Great Lakes and inland. The whole 12 months must be on Great Lakes or inland waters: 9 inland plus 3 Great Lakes, all of it inside the permitted pool. The 3-month Great Lakes block is met exactly. This paragraph is satisfied.
Confirm the inland route as the fallback, in case the Great Lakes documentation is rejected on review. Twelve months in the operation of vessels satisfies it outright.
Issue at the highest rung supported: Great Lakes and inland. Note for the candidate that this endorsement, not an inland one, is what authorises the Lake Michigan work, since inland excludes the Great Lakes. 46 CFR §11.467

Computing a tonnage limitation for master (OSV)

An applicant seeks master (OSV) above 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT with 24 months of qualifying ocean and near-coastal service on self-propelled vessels of more than 100 GRT: 8 months as chief mate on a 2,800 GRT OSV, 10 months as mate and 4 as chief mate on a 1,450 GRT OSV, and 2 months as mate on a 900 GRT OSV.

Confirm every month is creditable service — mate, chief mate, or master, on self-propelled vessels of more than 100 GRT, on ocean or near-coastal and/or Great Lakes. All 24 months clear that. 46 CFR §11.493
Test the chief-mate half. Half of 24 is 12 months, and the applicant has 8 plus 4, so 12 months as chief mate. The half is met.
Test whether that chief-mate half was obtained on vessels of 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT or more. Only 8 of the 12 chief-mate months were on the 2,800 GRT vessel. The full requirement is not met, so a tonnage limitation applies rather than an unlimited OSV endorsement.
Run the 25 percent branch. Twenty-five percent of 24 months is 6 months. The highest tonnage on which at least 6 months was obtained is the 2,800 GRT vessel, which gave 8 months. Branch value: 2,800 GRT.
Run the 50 percent branch. Fifty percent of 24 months is 12 months. Service on vessels of 1,450 GRT or more totals 22 months — the 8 months on the 2,800 GRT vessel plus the 10 as mate and 4 as chief mate on the 1,450 GRT vessel — so 1,450 GRT clears the threshold; service on vessels of 2,800 GRT or more is only 8 months and does not. Take 150 percent of 1,450 GRT: 2,175 GRT.
Take whichever is higher — 2,800 GRT — then express it in multiples of 1,000 GRT using the next higher figure: 3,000 GRT. It sits above the 2,000 GRT floor the paragraph imposes and well below the 10,000 GRT/GT ceiling for OSVs.

Same applicant, but the 2,800 GRT chief-mate service is only 4 months and the remaining 8 chief-mate months are on the 1,450 GRT vessel. What limitation issues?

The 25 percent branch needs 6 months at a given tonnage or above; 4 months on the 2,800 GRT vessel is short, so the highest tonnage meeting 25 percent drops to 1,450 GRT. The 50 percent branch still clears at 1,450 GRT, giving 150 percent, or 2,175 GRT. The higher of 1,450 and 2,175 is 2,175, which goes to the next higher multiple of 1,000 — 3,000 GRT. Had both branches produced a figure below 2,000 GRT, the minimum limitation calculated under this paragraph is 2,000 GRT.

Where candidates lose the point

Answering "12 months, any waters" for the Great Lakes and inland route. The near-coastal and inland paragraphs are worded that way, so the pattern feels safe. The Great Lakes and inland paragraph is not: it requires 12 months of service on Great Lakes or inland waters. Ocean time does not fill that pool.

Reading the near-coastal 3 months as time spent beyond 100 miles offshore. The 100-mile figure is a limit on what the endorsement authorises, not a condition on the service. The service condition is 3 months on vessels operating on ocean or near-coastal waters. Candidates who conflate the two reject qualifying records and pick the inland answer.

Assuming an inland OUPV covers the Great Lakes. The section states that inland endorsements include all inland waters except the Great Lakes, and it says so in the same paragraph that defines the near-coastal route. Read the whole paragraph, not the first sentence.

Treating the 3-month limited endorsement as a general shortcut. It is available to an applicant employed by an organisation such as a camp, yacht club, educational institution or marina, and the endorsement is limited to that activity and locality. It also carries the safe-boating course and a limited examination that a full OUPV does not.

Selecting a firefighting course for an original OUPV. The requirement is real for master and mates at §11.201(h), and candidates carry it across. The OUPV row of the quick reference table shows N/A. 46 CFR §10.239

Applying the 50 percent inland substitution to a large-OSV application. The substitution appears in the paragraph for OSVs of less than 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT. The paragraph governing 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT and above does not offer it, and adds the requirement that the chief-mate half be obtained on vessels of that size. 46 CFR §11.493

Rounding a tonnage limitation down, or forgetting the floor. Limitations go to the next higher multiple of 1,000 GRT, and the minimum calculated under that paragraph is 2,000 GRT.

Answering "3 months in the past 3 years" for a renewal. That figure belongs to a raise of grade. Officer renewals run on 1 year in the past 5.

Check yourself

You have 12 months of documented operating time: 10 months on Long Island Sound and bays inside the boundary line, 2 months on a sportfisherman running 30 miles offshore. Which OUPV route can be issued?

Inland only. The near-coastal route requires at least 3 months of service on vessels operating on ocean or near-coastal waters, and you have 2. The 12-month total is satisfied, so the inland endorsement issues; one more month offshore moves you to near-coastal. 46 CFR §11.467

You hold an OUPV endorsement for inland waters and are offered work carrying four anglers out of Duluth on Lake Superior. Are you covered?

No. Endorsements issued for inland waters include all inland waters except the Great Lakes. You need the Great Lakes and inland route, which requires 12 months on Great Lakes or inland waters including 3 months operating on Great Lakes waters, or the near-coastal route, which reaches the Great Lakes as a subordinate route.

A summer camp wants to put you in charge of its patrol boat on the lake where it operates. You have 4 months on that boat and nothing else. What is available to you?

A limited OUPV endorsement, restricted to the camp's specific activity and locality. It needs 3 months of service in the operation of that type of vessel, a qualifying safe-boating course, and a pass on a limited examination for the activity and route. First aid and CPR certificates are also required if the Coast Guard considers that medical services cannot be obtained within a reasonable time in that area.

An applicant for an OUPV endorsement asks which firefighting course to take and how the practical demonstration of professional ability is scheduled. What do you tell them?

Neither applies. The quick reference table shows N/A for both firefighting and demonstration of professional ability in the OUPV row. A professional examination is still required, under §§11.201(j), 11.903 and 11.910. 46 CFR §10.239

You are renewing an officer endorsement and have 8 months of sea service spread over the last 4 years. Does that meet the recency requirement?

No. Officer renewals require 1 year of service in the past 5 under §10.227(e) and (f), with an alternative noted there. Eight months falls short of the year, so pursue the alternative. The 3-months-in-3-years figure you may be thinking of applies to a raise of grade.

An applicant has 24 months as mate and chief mate on ocean and near-coastal OSVs of more than 100 GRT, 10 of those months as chief mate. Can master (OSV) be issued?

Not on that record. Both tonnage tiers require at least one-half of the 24 months — 12 months — served as chief mate, and 10 months does not reach it. Two more months as chief mate satisfies the requirement for OSVs of less than 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT; above that tier, the 12 chief-mate months must also be obtained on vessels of 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT or more, or a tonnage limitation is calculated. 46 CFR §11.493

Your master (OSV) applicant's qualifying service is entirely inland except for 12 months on ocean and near-coastal waters. Which tier, if any, can this support?

Only the tier below 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT, where service on inland waters may substitute for up to 50 percent of the required service. Twelve inland months out of 24 is exactly 50 percent, so the record can work provided the chief-mate half is also satisfied. The paragraph for 1,600 GRT/3,000 GT and above offers no inland substitution.

An applicant's qualifying service is 24 months, of which 7 months were on a 5,200 GRT vessel and 17 months on vessels of 1,100 GRT. The chief-mate half is met but not on large vessels. What limitation issues?

Twenty-five percent of 24 months is 6 months, and the 7 months on the 5,200 GRT vessel clears that, giving 5,200 GRT on the first branch. Fifty percent is 12 months; service on vessels of 1,100 GRT or more totals 24 months, so 150 percent of 1,100 GRT gives 1,650 GRT on the second branch. Take the higher figure, 5,200 GRT, and go to the next higher multiple of 1,000: 6,000 GRT, inside the 10,000 GRT/GT ceiling for OSVs.