OUPV (Six-Pack) and Master credential paths for charter boats, tour boats, and passenger-for-hire operators in Mississippi.
It isn't a state license — it's the same federal USCG Merchant Mariner Credential with an OUPV or Master endorsement, used nationwide.
Mississippi Sound and Gulf charter operators pursue OUPV Near-Coastal. Inland Mississippi River guides hold OUPV Inland.
The nearest USCG Regional Examination Center is New Orleans, LA. Compare centers and appointment rules in the USCG REC locations guide.
Major Mississippi charter hubs
Mississippi's demarcation is drawn in a section that never mentions the state. 33 CFR 80.815 runs its lines from Dauphin Island west to Petit Bois, from Horn Island Pass Entrance Range Front Light to Horn Island, along latitude 30°14.7′ N to Ship Island, and on to the Chandeleurs — which encloses the whole of Mississippi Sound as inland water. So Biloxi, Gulfport and Pascagoula charters working inside the barrier islands are on the Inland Rules, and cross to the International Rules through the island passes rather than at any point off the beach. Upriver, the Mississippi itself is Western Rivers water under 83.03(n), a different set of provisions again. Do not read the section headings as a state index: two sections named "Mississippi" are in Louisiana.
No Part 80 section is titled for Mississippi — and the two sections that carry the state's name, 33 CFR 80.825 and 80.830, are the Mississippi PASSES in Louisiana. Mississippi Sound is enclosed by 80.815, whose lines run island to island across Petit Bois, Horn and Ship Islands.
COLREGS Demarcation Lines covering Mississippi — 33 CFR Part 80
Western Rivers (the Mississippi River) are defined at 33 CFR 83.03(n) and carry Inland Rules provisions the rest of inland water does not: 83.09(a)(ii), 83.14(d), 83.15(b) and the towing-light exception at 83.24(j).
This decides which rulebook you steer by, not where your credential may operate: the route limit is the 46 CFR Part 7 Boundary Line, and the two lines are not drawn in the same place. How the two lines differ · International Rules · Inland Rules
33 CFR Part 80 and the Part 83 definitions above read from eCFR on 12 Aug 2026. Any specific water is a determination for the cognizant Coast Guard Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection.
Not sure the trip needs a credential at all? The captain's-license trigger guide.
Inspected small-passenger-vessel authority — that is a Master.
Master requirementsDocument your sea service
Pass the medical & drug test
CG-719K and CG-719P — medical certificate guide.
Get a TWIC + CPR / First Aid
Submit your application to the NMC
Pass the exam at REC New Orleans, LA
Or an approved course provider — what it covers and the score you need.
There is no Mississippi captain's license to get — you earn a federal USCG credential, in the five steps set out above, and sit the exam at REC New Orleans, LA.
The same — a federal Merchant Mariner Credential endorsement, valid in every state. Mississippi licenses the business, the guide and local fishing separately.
The minimum age is federal, not set by Mississippi: 18 for OUPV, 19 for most Master endorsements, 21 for higher-tonnage and ocean routes (46 CFR 11.201(e)).
At REC New Orleans, LA once the NMC approves the application, or through an approved course provider that administers the exam itself.
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