USC Chapter 75

in effect

46 U.S.C. § 7501 Duplicates

(a) If a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document issued under this part is lost as a result of a marine casualty, the holder shall be supplied with a duplicate without cost. (b) For any other loss, the holder may obtain a duplicate on payment of reasonable costs prescribed by regulation by the Secretary.

46 U.S.C. § 7502 Records

(a) The Secretary shall maintain records, including electronic records, on the issuances, denials, suspensions, and revocations of licenses, certificates of registry, merchant mariners’ documents, and endorsements on those licenses, certificates, and documents. (b) The Secretary may prescribe regulations requiring a vessel owner or managing operator of a commercial vessel, or the employer of a seaman on that vessel, to maintain records of each individual engaged on the vessel subject to inspection under chapter 33 on matters of engagement, discharge, and service for not less than 5 years after the date of the completion of the service of that individual on the vessel. The regulations may require that a vessel owner, managing operator, or employer shall make these records available to the individual and the Coast Guard on request. (c) A person violating this section, or a regulation prescribed under this section, is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not more than $5,000.

46 U.S.C. § 7503 Dangerous drugs as grounds for denial

A license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document authorized to be issued under this part may be denied to an individual who— (1) within 10 years before applying for the license, certificate, or document, has been convicted of violating a dangerous drug law of the United States or of a State; or (2) when applying, has ever been a user of, or addicted to, a dangerous drug unless the individual provides satisfactory proof that the individual is cured.

46 U.S.C. § 7504 Travel and expense reimbursement

When a requirement to qualify for the issuance of, or endorsement on, a certificate, license, or document under this part is administered at a place at the request of an applicant or an applicant’s representative, the applicant or representative may reimburse the Secretary for the travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the personnel assigned to perform the administration of the requirement. Amounts received as reimbursement under this section shall be credited to the appropriation for operations and support of the Coast Guard.

46 U.S.C. § 7505 Review of information in National Driver Register

The Secretary shall make information received from the National Driver Register under section 30305(b)(7) of title 49 available to an individual for review and written comment before denying, suspending, revoking, or taking any other action relating to a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document authorized to be issued for that individual under this part, based on that information.

46 U.S.C. § 7506 Convention tonnage for licenses, certificates, and documents

Notwithstanding any provision of section 14302(c) or 14305 of this title, the Secretary may— (1) evaluate the service of an individual who is applying for a license, a certificate of registry, or a merchant mariner’s document by using the tonnage as measured under chapter 143 of this title for the vessels on which that service was acquired, and (2) issue the license, certificate, or document based on that service.

46 U.S.C. § 7507 Authority to extend the duration of licenses, certificates of registry, and merchant mariner documents

(a) Licenses and Certificates of Registry.—Notwithstanding sections 7106 and 7107, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may—(1) extend for not more than one year an expiring license or certificate of registry issued for an individual under chapter 71 if the Secretary determines that the extension is required to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate a backlog in processing applications for those licenses or certificates of registry or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster, as deemed necessary by the Secretary; or (2) issue for not more than five years an expiring license or certificate of registry issued for an individual under chapter 71 for the exclusive purpose of aligning the expiration date of such license or certificate of registry with the expiration date of a merchant mariner’s document. (b) Merchant Mariner Documents.—Notwithstanding section 7302(g), the Secretary may—(1) extend for not more than one year an expiring merchant mariner’s document issued for an individual under chapter 73 if the Secretary determines that the extension is required to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate a backlog in processing applications for those merchant mariner documents or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster, as deemed necessary by the Secretary; or (2) issue for not more than five years an expiring merchant mariner’s document issued for an individual under chapter 73 for the exclusive purpose of aligning the expiration date of such merchant mariner’s document with the expiration date of a license or certificate of registry. (c) Manner of Extension.—Any extensions granted under this section may be granted to individual seamen or a specifically identified group of seamen. (d) Renewal.—With respect to any renewal of an active merchant mariner credential issued under this part that is not an extension under subsection (a) or (b), such credential shall begin the day after the expiration of the active credential of the credential holder.

46 U.S.C. § 7508 Authority to extend the duration of medical certificates

(a) Granting of Extensions.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may extend for not more than one year a medical certificate issued to an individual holding a license, merchant mariner’s document, or certificate of registry issued under chapter 71 or 73 if the Secretary determines that the extension is required to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate a backlog in processing applications for medical certificates or is in response to a national emergency or natural disaster. (b) Manner of Extension.—An extension under this section may be granted to an individual or a specifically identified group of individuals.

46 U.S.C. § 7509 Medical certification by trusted agents

(a) In General.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law and pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary, a trusted agent may issue a medical certificate to an individual who—(1) must hold such certificate to qualify for a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document, or endorsement thereto under this part; and (2) is qualified as to sight, hearing, and physical condition to perform the duties of such license, certificate, document, or endorsement, as determined by the trusted agent. (b) Process for Issuance of Certificates by Secretary.—A final rule implementing this section shall include a process for—(1) the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to issue medical certificates to mariners who submit applications for such certificates to the Secretary; and (2) a trusted agent to defer to the Secretary the issuance of a medical certificate. (c) Trusted Agent Defined.—In this section the term “trusted agent” means a medical practitioner certified by the Secretary to perform physical examinations of an individual for purposes of a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document under this part.

46 U.S.C. § 7510 Examinations for merchant mariner credentials

(a) Disclosure Not Required.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is not required to disclose to the public—(1) a question from any examination for a merchant mariner credential; (2) the answer to such a question, including any correct or incorrect answer that may be presented with such question; and (3) any quality or characteristic of such a question, including—(A) the manner in which such question has been, is, or may be selected for an examination; (B) the frequency of such selection; and (C) the frequency that an examinee correctly or incorrectly answered such question. (b) Exception for Certain Questions.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary may, for the purpose of preparation by the general public for examinations required for merchant mariner credentials, release an examination question and answer that the Secretary has retired or is not presently on or part of an examination, or that the Secretary determines is appropriate for release. (c) Working group.—(1) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, and once every two years thereafter, the Commandant shall commission a working group to review questions, content, and relevancy of examinations required for merchant mariner credentials, composed of—(A) 1 subject matter expert from the Coast Guard; (B) representatives from training facilities and the maritime industry, of whom—(i) one-half shall be representatives from approved training facilities; and (ii) one-half shall be representatives from the appropriate maritime industry; (C) at least 1 representative from the National Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee; (D) at least 2 representatives from the State maritime academies, of whom one shall be a representative from the deck training track and one shall be a representative of the engineer license track; (E) at least 2 individuals that have taken and passed the examination in the 5 years before the commissioning of the working group; (F) at least 1 representative from the United States Merchant Marine Academy; (G) representatives from other Coast Guard Federal advisory committees, as appropriate, for the industry segment associated with the subject examinations; (H) at least 1 subject matter expert from the Maritime Administration; and (I) at least 1 human performance technology representative. (2) Inclusion of persons knowledgeable about examination type.—The working group shall include representatives knowledgeable about the examination type under review. (3) Meeting of working group.—(A) In general.—The Commandant shall convene the working group annually or at the creation of new examination questions, whichever occurs sooner. (B) Remote participation.—The Commandant shall allow any member of the working group to participate remotely if the member of the working group does not have the means to participate in person. (4) Use of questions.—The Commandant may not use questions developed for use in the Merchant Mariner Credentialing Examination until such questions are reviewed and approved by the working group. (5) Review.—(A) In general.—Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, the Commandant shall convene the working group to complete a baseline review of the Coast Guard’s Merchant Mariner Credentialing Examination, including review of—(i) industry standards, practices, and technology to be considered in the Merchant Mariner Credentialing Examination; (ii) the accuracy of examination questions; (iii) the accuracy and availability of examination references; (iv) the length of merchant mariner examinations; (v) the relevancy of examination topics and contents; (vi) any redundancy of core competencies between the Merchant Mariner Credentialing Examination and Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchingkeeping competencies; and (vii) the use of standard technologies in administering, scoring, and analyzing the examinations. (B) Report to commandant.—Upon completion of the review under this paragraph, a report shall be provided to the Commandant which shall include findings of the review with recommendations for updates to the Merchant Marine Credentialling Examination. (6) Nondisclosure agreement.—The Secretary shall require all members of the working group to sign a nondisclosure agreement with the Secretary. (7) Treatment of members as federal employees.—A member of the working group who is not a Federal Government employee shall not be considered a Federal employee in the service or the employment of the Federal Government, except that such a member shall be considered a special government employee, as defined in section 202(a) of title 18 for purposes of sections 203, 205, 207, 208, and 209 of such title and shall be subject to any administrative standards of conduct applicable to an employee of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating. (8) Chapter 10 of title 5.—Chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to any working group created under this section to review the Coast Guard’s merchant mariner credentialing examinations. (d) Merchant Mariner Credential Defined.—In this section, the term “merchant mariner credential” means a merchant mariner license, certificate, or document that the Secretary is authorized to issue pursuant to this title.

46 U.S.C. § 7511 Convicted sex offender as grounds for denial

(a) Sexual Abuse.—A license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document authorized to be issued under this part shall be denied to an individual who has been convicted of a sexual offense prohibited under—(1) chapter 109A of title 18, except for subsection (b) of section 2244 of title 18; (2) section 920 or 920b of title 10 (article 120 and 120b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice); or (3) a substantially similar offense under Federal, State, local, or Tribal law. (b) Abusive Sexual Contact.—A license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document authorized to be issued under this part may be denied to an individual who within 5 years before applying for the license, certificate, or document, has been convicted of a sexual offense prohibited under subsection (b) of section 2244 of title 18, or a substantially similar offense under State, local, or Tribal law.

46 U.S.C. § 7512 Requirements of electronic merchant mariner credentialing system

(a) Definition of Merchant Mariner Credential.—In this section, the term “merchant mariner credential” means a merchant mariner license, certificate, or document that the Secretary is authorized to issue pursuant to this title. (b) Necessary Considerations.—In implementing any electronic merchant mariner credentialing system for purposes of this chapter, the Secretary shall consider how to allow, to the maximum extent practicable—(1) the electronic submission of the components of merchant mariner credential applications (such as sea service documentation, professional qualifications, course completion certificates, safety and suitability documents, and medical records) and course approval requests; (2) the direct electronic and secure submission of—(A) sea service verification documentation from employers; (B) course completion certificates from training providers; and (C) necessary documentation from other stakeholders; and (3) the electronic processing and evaluation of information for the issuance of merchant mariner credentials and course approvals, including the capability for the Secretary to complete remote evaluation of information submitted through the system. (c) Access to Data.—The Secretary shall ensure that the Maritime Administration and other Federal agencies, as authorized by the Secretary, have access to anonymized and aggregated data from the electronic system described in subsection (b) and that such data include, at a minimum—(1) the total amount of sea service for individuals with a valid merchant mariner credential; (2) the number of mariners with valid merchant mariner credentials for each rating, including the capability to filter data based on credential endorsements; (3) demographic information including age, gender, and region or address; (4) the estimated times for the Coast Guard to process merchant mariner credential applications, mariner medical certificates, and course approvals; (5) the number of providers approved to provide training for purposes of this part and, for each such training provider, the number of classes taken by individuals with, or applying for, a merchant mariner credential; and (6) if applicable, the branch of the uniformed services (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10) and duty status of applicants for a merchant mariner credential. (d) Privacy Requirements.—The Secretary shall collect the information required under subsection (b) in a manner that protects the privacy rights of individuals who are the subjects of such information.