Entry & progression
Governing: 46 CFR 10.232. The item most applications are returned over.
What the evidence must contain
46 CFR 10.232(a)(2) sets out what documentary evidence must contain — all of it, for each vessel:
- Vessel name and official number.
- Gross tonnage of the vessel.
- Propulsion power and mode of propulsion.
- The amount and nature of your experience — the capacity you served in.
- Dates of service for each vessel, and the ports or terminals where applicable.
- The routes on which the experience was acquired.
- Whether the vessel had radar, and whether you routinely used it (for radar observer renewal).
- Whether the vessel is manned and equipped in accordance with SOLAS, and any information needed to determine whether STCW applies.
- Where required, time served as bridge watchkeeping under the supervision of a qualified officer.
WARNING — Gross tonnage is the line that decides your tonnage tier For a Master under 100 GRT, the tonnage limitation is computed from the gross tonnage of the vessels you served on (46 CFR 11.422). Leave that field vague, or guess it, and you are guessing at your own credential. Get the GRT in writing from the owner, for every vessel, before you leave her.
The self-attestation rule — narrower than you have been told
46 CFR 10.232(a)(4), in full:
For service on vessels of less than 200 GRT, owners of vessels may attest to their own service and provide proof of ownership. Those who do not own a vessel must obtain letters or other evidence from credentialed personnel or the owners of the vessels listed.
Read what that actually permits:
- You may self-attest only for a vessel you own, and you must prove the ownership.
- For anyone else's vessel you need a letter from the owner, or from credentialed personnel.
- There is no general right to self-certify sea time under 200 GRT. That belief is widespread and wrong.
The form
CG-719S — Small Vessel Sea Service Form, for service on vessels of less than 200 GRT. One form per vessel. It captures everything 10.232(a)(2) demands, plus days per month per year, average distance offshore, average hours underway per day, and days seaward versus shoreward of the boundary line.
Both you and the attesting owner or master sign it under 18 U.S.C. 1001 — a false statement carries a fine or up to five years' imprisonment. The form is formally optional; what is mandatory is the substance.
The arithmetic that quietly changes your total
| Rule | Effect | Cite |
|---|---|---|
| A day | 8 hours. Under 100 GRT the Coast Guard may allow less, but never below 4 — it is discretionary | 10.232(h) |
| Great Lakes service | Credited day for day, no cap | 10.232(b) |
| Inland service (toward an ocean / near-coastal endorsement) | Credited for up to 50 percent of the total required | 10.232(b) |
| Tonnage equivalence | 200 GRT ≡ 500 GT; 1,600 GRT ≡ 3,000 GT | 10.232(i) |
Keep the record as you go. Reconstructing four years of sea time from memory and old photographs, two weeks before you want to file, is how people end up applying for a route they cannot support.