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The Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) is a credential issued by the
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
in accordance with guidelines of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) to
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seafarers in order to show evidence of a mariner's qualifications. It is the standard documentation required for all crew members of U.S. ships for all vessels required to operate with a licensed
Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
or Operator, regardless of size. The MMC replaced the
Merchant Mariner's Document {{Globalize, article, UK and USA, date=August 2023 __NOTOC__ Under the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958, countries with a merchant navy (also called a merchant marine) require identifying credentials for their mariners. The Merchant ...
, merchant mariner license, Certificate of Registry, and STCW Certificate.


Origin

The MMC contains professional qualification information previously listed on a merchant mariner license or Certificate of Registry as an officer endorsement, while information previously listed on a Merchant Mariner's Document is included as a rating endorsement. STCW endorsements are still listed as STCW endorsements. The combining of the mariner credentials was due to the requirement for U.S. mariners to obtain the
Transportation Worker Identification Credential The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (or TWIC) program is a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Coast Guard initiative in the United States. The TWIC program provides a tamper-resistant biometric credential to mar ...
(or TWIC), a
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security card issued by the
Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
(TSA) that all workers in the transportation industry are required to obtain if their work involves access to a security-sensitive area. This reduced the number of documents needed to satisfy manning requirements from five to two: The TWIC and MMC. Previous to April 15, 2009, applications for credentials still had to be made in person at an REC to provide fingerprints and proof of identity. Now, TSA collects the fingerprints and proof of identity and forwards the information to the Coast Guard's National Maritime Center (NMC). Mariners still have to visit a Regional Exam Center if they are required to take an exam. The first Merchant Mariner Credential was issued on May 7, 2009, at a meeting of the Towing Safety Advisory Committee. As of early 2015, all active U.S. merchant mariners had been issued MMCs. The credential was criticized by several groups upon introduction. One organization said that the consolidation reduced the merchant marine officer license, a certificate of professional achievement and status, into a work permit. Another group suggested that the consolidation, together with STCW requirements, the TWIC requirement, and physical evaluation standards, stressed the skilled labor pool, posed too much of an administrative burden, and threatened mariner recruitment, training and retention.


Physical description


Current MMC Format

Since March 1, 2024, the MMC is presented on one sheet of 8.5"x11" waterproof and tear-resistant synthetic paper, and contains several security measures including micro-printing, foiling, and intricate patterns. The credential may be folded to approximate the format of the old passport style MMC.


Old Passport Style MMC Format

The old format of the MMC is in the format of a traditional
passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...
book. As MMCs have a validity period of five years, both the new and old formats are currently in use until April 30, 2029, when the last passport style MMC expires. Like a passport, the cover is imprinted with the
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and the text ''United States of America''. Unlike a passport, the cover is red-maroon in color (rather than the four colors used for US passports or travel documents: dark blue, black, maroon, and gray) and the text ''Merchant Mariner Credential'' appears in place of ''Passport''. Also, the cover does not hold a
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chip as newer
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s (ePassports) do. The old passport style MMC has twenty pages, exclusive of the front and back covers, sequentially numbered like the visa pages of a passport. Basic identity document data is page 3. The MMC is not a passport, but it is a Seafarer's Identity Document and the format of the data page complies with the
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''Machine Readable Travel Documents'' specifications for
machine-readable passport A machine-readable passport (MRP) is a machine-readable travel document (MRTD) with the data on the identity page encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine-readable travel documents in the 1980s. Most ...
s. Rather than the document type of P used with US government issued passports, a document type of PG is used for MMCs. License information in the form of domestic and international endorsements begin on page 4 of the MMC and continue as many pages required to list competencies held by the mariner. Domestic ( 46 CFR 10) and International ( STCW Convention) license information are printed on separate pages. When the mariner gains a new competency while holding an already valid MMC, the new competency is printed on a sticker which is placed on the next available blank page in the MMC, much like a visa in a passport. Thus new MMCs are only produced for original and renewals; raises in grade, removal or limitations, or addition of endorsements do not require a new credential. The mariner's reference number and the MMC's serial number are printed on the bottom of every page containing endorsement information and on all stickers issued to be added. The endorsement pages are overprinted with a transparent plastic 'watermark' with the words 'Merchant Mariner Credential' and the seal of the United States. MMC serial numbers are nine digits long, as required for a passport book, and padded with leading zeros. The MMC has a clear plastic holder for the mariner's Medical Certificate on the inside of the back cover. The MMC is considered a form of REAL ID and is therefore accepted as proof of identity by the TSA.


See also

{{Portal, Transport *
Merchant Mariner's Document {{Globalize, article, UK and USA, date=August 2023 __NOTOC__ Under the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958, countries with a merchant navy (also called a merchant marine) require identifying credentials for their mariners. The Merchant ...
* Seaman Service Book * Continuous Discharge Certificate * STCW *
Transportation Worker Identification Credential The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (or TWIC) program is a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Coast Guard initiative in the United States. The TWIC program provides a tamper-resistant biometric credential to mar ...
*
United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...
*
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...


References


External links


USCG National Maritime Center
- Official website for MMC info
U.S. Coast Guard's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Merchant Mariner Credential
United States maritime law United States Merchant Marine Professional titles and certifications Identity documents of the United States