Entry & progression
Two things decide how long your ticket takes: whether you hold a workshop skills equivalent qualification, and whether your Training Record Book is signed. And there is a published contradiction about the sea service. Cite the Marine Order.
The list
- Certificate III in engineering / a mechanical trade; electrical fitting; automotive diesel engine technology; automotive-mechanical diesel fitter; automotive-mechanical heavy vehicle (road transport, or mobile equipment / plant / earthmoving / agriculture); automotive engine reconditioning
- Certificate IV in ESI generation maintenance — electrical electronics, or mechanical
- Australian trade certificates — fitter and turner / machinist; diesel fitter; electrical fitter
- Australian Recognised Trade Certificates, plus any other approved qualification that includes workshop skills
That last limb is where AMSA's discretion lives, and it is the only soft edge on an otherwise hard list.
What holding one is worth
It is not a badge. It buys sea time back, in months, across the domestic ladder as well as the international one:
| Certificate | Without workshop skills | With workshop skills |
|---|---|---|
| MED 2 NC | 180 days with task book / 360 without | 90 days with task book / 180 without |
| MED 1 NC | 240 days with task book (holding MED 2) | 180 days without task book / 90 with |
| Trainee engineer program | not available — you need the cadetship | 12 months combined |
The Training Record Book
Every one of the three entry programs requires the sea service to be documented in an approved Training Record Book. The TRB is not a diary. It is the evidence that a certificated engineer — an Engineer Watchkeeper, Engineer Class 2 or Engineer Class 1 holder — stood behind you while you did the work and was prepared to put a signature against it. No signature, no service. Chase the signatures weekly. They become impossible to get once the ship sails without you.
The 36-vs-26-week trap
WARNING — AMSA's web page and MO72 do not agree. The Marine Order governs. AMSA's Engineer watchkeeper web page says: 36 weeks of sea service on vessels ≥750 kW, of which 26 weeks must be performed on engine room watchkeeping duties under the supervision of an engineer officer.
MO72 Schedule 2 does not say that. It says the full 36 weeks must be performed under supervision, of which at least 16 weeks on propulsion of the kind.
The 26-week figure appears in MO72 only in the engineering experience training program — the EC3 NC route — where it is the total service, not a supervised subset. It looks as though the web page has borrowed a number from the wrong program.
AMSA's own disclaimer says the marine orders govern. Plan for 36 weeks fully supervised. If you plan for 26 and AMSA applies the Order, you are ten weeks short at the worst possible moment.
This is not pedantry. It is the difference between passing an assessment and being sent back to sea. Where a regulator's guidance and its own legislation disagree, the legislation is the one that will be read out to you.