Coast Guard issues first consolidated Merchant Mariner Credential

In this photo released by U.S. Coast Guard, Jessica Dennis, regulatory compliance manager for Hornbeck Offshore, receives the first new consolidated Merchant Mariner Credential from Capt. David Stalfort, commanding officer of the National Maritime Center, during the Towing Safety Advisory Committee meeting held Thursday, May 7, 2009, at Dania Beach, Fla.

In this photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard, Jessica Dennis, regulatory compliance manager for Hornbeck Offshore, receives the first new consolidated Merchant Mariner Credential from Capt. David Stalfort, commanding officer of the National Maritime Center, during the Towing Safety Advisory Committee meeting held Thursday, May 7, 2009, at Dania Beach, Fla. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard issued the first consolidated Merchant Mariner Credential Thursday, during the Towing Safety Advisory Committee meeting held at Dania Beach, Fla.

Jessica Dennis, a regulatory compliance manager for Hornbeck Offshore, was the first mariner to receive the new MMC as evidenced by its serial number of 000000001. Dennis is a graduate of the Texas Maritime Academy and holds domestic officer endorsements such as; second mate of steam motor vessels, able seaman, wiper and stewards department.

The MMC consolidates the credentials issued to merchant mariners into a single credential, and streamlines the application process for the MMC by removing the requirement that all mariners appear at one of 17 Regional Exam Centers, so long as they have already enrolled for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

Under previous regulations, the Coast Guard issued up to four credentials per mariner including a Merchant Mariner’s Document, Merchant Mariner’s License, Certificate of Registry and an International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers Endorsement. Each credential served a separate purpose, thus creating the possibility that a mariner might need all four. The new consolidated MMC replaces the four separate Coast Guard-issued documents with one Merchant Mariner Credential.

For more information about the NMC's Mariner Licensing and Documentation program visit http://www.uscg.mil/nmc or the Homeport site at http://homeport.uscg.mil and select Merchant Mariners.

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