Entry & progression
Entry: none — this is the map. Progression: OICEW first, then everything above it. Learn these six by their kilowatt thresholds and their levels. Both get tested.
46 CFR 11.323(a) lists the STCW engineer officer endorsements the Coast Guard issues. There are six of them. Two STCW regulations — III/2 and III/3 — each cover two ranks, and each is issued as two separate endorsements. So six endorsements, four sections of the CFR, and one recurring pair of numbers: 750 kW and 3,000 kW.
The six — 46 CFR 11.323(a)
| # | Endorsement | Propulsion power | Level | CFR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chief Engineer Officer (III/2) | 3,000 kW / 4,000 HP or more | Management | 11.325 |
| 2 | Second Engineer Officer (III/2) | 3,000 kW / 4,000 HP or more | Management | 11.327 |
| 3 | OICEW (III/1) | 750 kW / 1,000 HP or more | Operational | 11.329 |
| 4 | Chief Engineer Officer (III/3) | 750 kW–3,000 kW (1,000–4,000 HP) | Management | 11.331 |
| 5 | Second Engineer Officer (III/3) | 750 kW–3,000 kW (1,000–4,000 HP) | Management | 11.333 |
| 6 | Electro-technical Officer (ETO) (III/6) | 750 kW / 1,000 HP or more | Operational | 11.335 |
The OICEW at number three is the entry endorsement — the one this course is named for. It authorises service as Officer in Charge of an Engineering Watch in a manned engineroom, or as a Designated Duty Engineer in a periodically unmanned engineroom, on vessels of 750 kW or more.
WARNING — The ETO is OPERATIONAL level — and it has a 750 kW floor Both halves of that sentence get got wrong constantly. The ETO is not a management-level officer; it sits at the operational level alongside the OICEW (46 CFR 10.107). And it is not a universal electrical ticket that applies to any vessel — 11.323(a) scopes it to vessels "of 750 kW/1,000 HP or more." Same floor as the OICEW.
Two regulations, two ranks each
STCW III/2 covers the big-plant management pair: Chief Engineer Officer and Second Engineer Officer on vessels of 3,000 kW or more. STCW III/3 covers the same two ranks on the smaller band, 750 kW to 3,000 kW. The Coast Guard does not issue a combined "III/2 endorsement." It issues the Chief and it issues the Second, separately, and you qualify for them separately.
The ratings are somewhere else entirely
STCW also defines three engine-department ratings — support-level people, not officers. They are not in Part 11 at all. They live in 46 CFR Part 12 Subpart F, and if you go looking for them in Subpart C you will not find them.
| STCW reg | Rating | CFR |
|---|---|---|
| III/4 | Rating Forming Part of an Engineering Watch (RFPEW) | 12.609 |
| III/5 | Able Seafarer-Engine | 12.607 |
| III/7 | Electro-technical Rating (ETR) | 12.611 |
So the full STCW engine department is nine credentials: six officer endorsements in Part 11, three ratings in Part 12. Note the symmetry at the electrical end — an ETO (III/6, officer, operational) and an ETR (III/7, rating, support). Different people, different parts of the CFR.
TIP — How to remember the numbers 750 kW is the floor of the whole STCW engineering system — below it, no STCW engineer endorsement is required at all. 3,000 kW is the line between the small management pair and the big one. Every threshold in Subpart C is one of those two numbers. There is no third.