Entry & progression
Builds on: L1.2. Governing regulation: 46 CFR 11.422(b).
The four routes up
| Route | 46 CFR 11.422(b) | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (b)(2) | 90 days of additional service on deck of a vessel in the highest tonnage increment your endorsement authorises |
| 2 | (b)(3) | Additional service which, combined with everything you have already accumulated, qualifies you under the basic formula in 11.422(a) |
| 3 | (b)(4) | 6 months of additional deck service on vessels within the highest tonnage increment on your credential — this raises the limitation one increment |
| 4 | (b)(1) | (For Mate) 45 days of additional service in the highest increment authorised |
Route 1 is the cheap one and almost nobody uses it, because almost nobody knows it is there. Ninety days of deck service on a vessel at the top of your current band, and the limitation lifts.
Reading route 1 carefully
"In the highest tonnage increment authorised by the endorsement" means: if you hold Master 50, you need 90 days on a vessel between 25 and 50 GRT — at the top of what you are currently allowed to command. You cannot skip ahead by serving on a 90-ton boat you are not licensed for; the service must be lawful service under the credential you actually hold.
TIP — Route 2 is the one to check first 11.422(b)(3) lets you re-run the original formula against all your service, old and new together. Mariners who were issued at 25 GRT because their early time was on small boats often find that a season on a bigger vessel tips the whole calculation over the line — with no separate 90-day or 6-month requirement at all. Do the arithmetic before you commit to anything else.
The practical sequence
- Recalculate the formula against your total service to date, including everything since issue. You may already qualify (route 2).
- If not, identify the highest tonnage increment your current endorsement authorises — that is the band your qualifying service must be in.
- Log 90 days in that band (route 1), documented on a CG-719S with the vessel's gross tonnage recorded.
- Apply as a raise of grade: $100 evaluation + $45 issuance (46 CFR 10.219). No examination fee for a raise of tonnage under the formula.
The paperwork is the same paperwork. What changes is that you now know which 90 days to go and get, rather than accumulating years of the wrong tonnage and wondering why the number never moves.
A note on the increments
The CFR is not entirely consistent with itself here, and it is worth knowing. 46 CFR 11.422(a) names the tiers as 25, 50, 100 or 200 GRT. But 46 CFR 11.410(a)(3) describes endorsements as issued "between 25 and 200 GRT in 50-ton increments," and 11.450(a) says Great Lakes and inland endorsements are issued in 50 GRT increments.
11.422 is the operative formula section, and 25/50/100 is what the NMC checklist actually applies at this tonnage. If you meet an examiner or a study guide describing a 150-ton tier, that is where it comes from — and it is not what you will be issued under 100 GRT.