Entry & progression
46 CFR 11.201(a): an applicant for any STCW endorsement must hold the appropriate national endorsement. For the III/2 chief, the appropriate national endorsement is chief-grade. A First Assistant Engineer cannot get here.
The table
| National endorsement held | Additional sea service for STCW III/2 Chief Engineer Officer |
|---|---|
| Chief Engineer | None |
| Chief Engineer-Limited | 12 months |
| Chief Engineer-MODU | 12 or 24 months |
| Chief Engineer-OSV | None |
| Designated Duty Engineer, any horsepower | 24 months as DDE — but the STCW certificate "should be limited to vessels less than 500 GRT" |
Look at what is on that list — and what is not
Every workable entry is a chief-grade national endorsement. Chief Engineer. Chief Engineer-Limited. Chief Engineer-MODU. Chief Engineer-OSV. The Coast Guard's position is plain and it is defensible: before it will certify you as chief internationally, it wants you to have been certified as chief nationally.
WARNING — You cannot reach STCW III/2 Chief Engineer Officer from a First Assistant Engineer The First Assistant Engineer is not on Table 1 to 11.325(d). Neither is the Second Assistant, nor the Third, nor the Assistant Engineer-Limited. They are assistant grades, and this table wants a chief grade.
A First Assistant holding an STCW Second Engineer Officer endorsement is at the top of the assistant ladder — and one national raise-of-grade away from the chief's certificate, not one STCW application away. Go and get the national Chief Engineer endorsement first.
The two real doors
- National Chief Engineer (46 CFR 11.510) — the unlimited ladder. No additional STCW sea service at all. You walk from the national chief's endorsement to the III/2 with nothing further owed. This is the clean route and it is the one to plan for.
- Chief Engineer-Limited (46 CFR 11.518) — 12 months additional service. The Limited chief's endorsement asks 5 years in the engineroom, 2 of them as an engineer officer while holding an endorsement, and 30 months as a QMED or equivalent. It is a long climb, but it is a real one, and for a hawsepipe yacht engineer it is often the realistic door.
CAUTION — What the national endorsement authorises is a separate question from what the STCW says Chief Engineer (11.510) carries no tonnage limit of any kind. Chief Engineer-Limited is capped at less than 1,600 GRT on oceans, near-coastal and the Great Lakes, unlimited inland (11.501(b)) — and there is a genuine conflict in the CFR here: 11.323(d) says less than 3,000 GT in Great Lakes service while 11.501(b) says 1,600 GRT. The numbers conflict. We are not going to pick one for you. Ask the NMC what your specific document will say.
And the gate behind the gate
Holding a chief-grade national endorsement is necessary and not sufficient. That endorsement must itself be rated for at least 4,000 HP, or the III/2 does not follow from it. A national Chief Engineer ticket limited to 2,000 HP will not carry this certificate. That is Lesson 2.3, and it is the most important lesson in the course.