Entry & progression
No prerequisite certificate. Twenty days at sea with a task book. This is the cheapest, fastest way into a certificated engineering job in Australia, and almost nobody knows it exists.
What it entitles you to do
| Role | Limit |
|---|---|
| Chief engineer, inboard | Vessel with propulsion power under 500 kW |
| Chief engineer, outboard | Any propulsion power |
| Second engineer | Vessel under 750 kW |
| Engine room | Vessel under 3000 kW |
| Operating area | Near coastal - to the outer limits of the EEZ |
Read the second and fourth rows together. A Grade 3 holder can be chief engineer of an outboard vessel of unlimited power, and can work in the engine room of a vessel of up to 3000 kW under someone else's authority. The 500 kW figure is the ceiling on being the person in charge of an inboard plant. It is not the ceiling on the ship.
The sea service
| Route | Days required |
|---|---|
| With an AMSA task book | 20 days |
| Without a task book | 60 days |
The service must be on commercial vessels with at least 75 kW of propulsion power, and at least half of it must be on inboard diesel engines. That second condition catches people who do all their time on tenders and outboards: half the days must be inboard diesel, and no amount of outboard time fixes a shortfall.
TIP — Twenty days is four working weeks With a task book, MED 3 asks for twenty days of sea service. That is a month of work. Without the task book it is sixty days - three months - for exactly the same certificate. The task book is free to ask for and it costs you nothing but the discipline of getting signatures. There is no version of this where not having one is the right call.
The course and the assessment
The training qualification is the Certificate II in Maritime Operations (Marine Engine Driver Grade 3 Near Coastal), delivered by an AMSA-approved registered training organisation.
The final assessment is an AMPA - an AMSA Mandated Practical Assessment. It is a practical, done at the training provider. There is no oral examination at Grade 3. You will not sit in a room with an AMSA examiner. That first happens at Grade 1, and for a lot of people it never happens at all.
The other requirements
- Minimum age 16.
- HLTAID011 - the standard 'Provide first aid' certificate. Not an STCW course.
- AMSA form 1850 medical - the near-coastal certificate of medical fitness. Any GP can do it, in Australia or overseas. There is no approved-doctor list.
- No Certificate of Safety Training. A CoST is an international requirement; some domestic operators ask for one, but the regulation does not.
The certificate is valid for five years, like every domestic certificate.
NOTE — What Grade 3 does not give you It does not give you STCW recognition. It does not travel internationally. It does not make you an engineer officer. What it gives you is a legal entitlement to be the person responsible for a small commercial plant, and a place to start counting days from. Everything above it is built on days.