Entry & progression
Entry: you are accruing sea service and sitting approved courses. Progression: the assessments run alongside both, and they are what turns competence into a signature.
The definition — 46 CFR 10.107
NOTE — "Practical demonstration" "The performance of an activity under the direct observation of a QA… to establish that the performer is sufficiently proficient in a practical skill to meet a specified standard of competence."
Three elements: an activity performed, direct observation, and a standard of competence it is measured against. Not a conversation. Not a logbook entry. Somebody watched you do the thing.
The method menu
Practical demonstration is not the only method. 46 CFR 11.301 sets out the ways a competence may be evidenced, and different competences are evidenced differently. Some are demonstrated. Some are covered by an approved course. Some are covered by an examination. The task sheets tell you which is which — a competence marked "Course" or "Exam" needs no separate practical assessment at all.
NVIC 15-14 says it plainly: "The successful completion of the course is sufficient evidence of meeting the applicable standard of competence… a separate assessment of competence is not needed." Do not go chasing an assessor's signature for something the course already covered.
The NVIC task sheets
For each STCW endorsement the Coast Guard publishes a Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular containing model task sheets — one page per competence, broken into individually assessable tasks, each with a space for the assessor's signature and date.
| Endorsement | NVIC |
|---|---|
| OICEW (III/1) | NVIC 17-14 (CH-8) |
| Chief / Second Engineer ≥3,000 kW (III/2) | NVIC 15-14 (CH-6) |
| Chief / Second Engineer 750–3,000 kW (III/3) | NVIC 16-14 (CH-5) |
| ETO (III/6) | NVIC 23-14 (CH-4) |
| Qualified Assessors | NVIC 19-14 (CH-5) |
WARNING — NVIC 20-14 is HIGH-SPEED CRAFT — it is not an engineering NVIC It is an easy and common mis-cite, and it will send you to the wrong document. The OICEW NVIC is 17-14 (CH-8). The ETO NVIC is 23-14 (CH-4). Write them down.
How this works on a vessel
In practice, the task sheets travel with you. You print the OICEW package, you carry it, and over months you work through it with whoever aboard is qualified to sign — starting a fuel purifier, taking a bearing clearance, isolating a system, responding to a bilge alarm, handing over a watch. Each task gets performed, observed and signed.
It is a slow accumulation and it rewards being organised. Engineers who leave the task sheets in a drawer for two years and then try to get a chief to sign forty tasks in a week are asking that chief to certify things he did not see. A good one will refuse.
CAUTION — The signature is a professional act An assessor who signs a task he did not observe has falsified a record that the Coast Guard relies on to certify that you are safe to run a watch. Treat the task sheet as the serious document it is — and understand that from 1 January 2029, who may sign it changes completely. That is the next lesson.