Entry & progression
Assistant Engineer-Limited — 46 CFR 11.522. Chief Engineer-Limited — 46 CFR 11.518. Two grades, and only two. Both carry oceans and near-coastal. Both are capped at less than 1,600 GRT once you leave inland waters.
They are the rungs a yacht engineer is most likely to hold. They are also the rungs the industry most consistently gets wrong.
The endorsement that does not exist
You will hear people talk about a "Limited-Oceans" ticket. There is no such thing. A full-text search of Title 46 for "Limited-Oceans" returns zero results. There is no section 11.520 either — the numbering jumps straight from 11.518 to 11.522.
WARNING — "Limited-Oceans" is industry shorthand, not law The ocean scope is built into the single Limited grade. 46 CFR 11.501(b) says both Chief Engineer-Limited and Assistant Engineer-Limited may serve on oceans and near-coastal waters. There is no separate ocean version to go and buy, no upgrade, no second exam. If someone tells you they hold "Chief Limited-Oceans", they hold Chief Engineer-Limited and they are describing what it lets them do.
What 11.501(b) actually gives you
| Waters | Tonnage limit under 11.501(b) |
|---|---|
| Inland | No tonnage limit |
| Oceans | Less than 1,600 GRT |
| Near-coastal | Less than 1,600 GRT |
| Great Lakes | Less than 1,600 GRT — but see the caution below |
Note what that table does not say. It says nothing about horsepower. The propulsion-power limit on a Limited endorsement is set separately, by the formula at 11.503(b), and it is the subject of its own lesson. Tonnage and horsepower are two different fences, and you have to be inside both of them.
GRT is not GT
The 1,600 figure is Regulatory gross tonnage. The yacht world quotes ITC / Convention tonnage. They are different measurement systems producing different numbers for the same hull. A yacht marketed as "499 GT" is quoting ITC, and its regulatory tonnage is a different — usually lower — number. Never assume the two are the same, and never do the conversion in your head. Get the tonnage off the vessel's documentation.
The Great Lakes contradiction — teach the tension, do not resolve it
CAUTION — The CFR contradicts itself on the Great Lakes 46 CFR 11.501(b) caps the Limited grades at less than 1,600 GRT on the Great Lakes. 46 CFR 11.323(d) says less than 3,000 GT in Great Lakes service. The two numbers genuinely conflict, and they are not even in the same tonnage system.
We are not going to pick one for you, because picking one would be inventing law. If your career depends on the answer — if you are looking at a Great Lakes berth between those two figures — put the question to the National Maritime Center in writing and get the answer in writing. Do not rely on a course, a school, or a colleague.
One more housekeeping point. The grades were restyled in the Coast Guard's gender-neutral nomenclature rule of 25 November 2024: what older documents call "chief engineer (limited)" is now written Chief Engineer-Limited. Same grade, current name. Use the current one on an application.