2.11 Certificates, Documents & COI

Paperwork Is Part of Command

A Master Less Than 100 GRT who can dock perfectly but sails without a valid Certificate of Inspection, with expired crew credentials, or past the COI passenger count is still wrong under the law. Q160 Deck General repeatedly tests which document says what, where placards live, and who is responsible when the Coast Guard boards. Build a mental document kit and a physical one on the vessel.

Certificate of Inspection (COI)

For inspected small passenger vessels — the core employment for most Master 100 holders — the Certificate of Inspection is the vessel’s operating license. Issued after Coast Guard inspection under frameworks such as 46 CFR Subchapter T (small passenger vessels), the COI typically states:

• Route and waters of operation (e.g., lakes, bays, and sounds; limited coastwise; specific geographic limits)
• Maximum number of passengers and total persons allowed
• Required manning (master, deckhands, and any other billets)
• Lifesaving, firefighting, and other equipment conditions
• Special operating restrictions or endorsements

The COI must be current (not expired) and aboard. It is commonly posted where passengers and boarding officers can see the key limits. You may not "stretch" the COI by passenger waiver, good weather, or owner pressure. Want more passengers or a longer route? That requires Coast Guard approval and an amended authorization — not a Facebook post.

Contrast with OUPV / uninspected passenger vessels: a UPV carrying six or fewer passengers for hire does not operate under a small-passenger COI the way a T-boat does. Once the vessel is inspected and carries more than six passengers, the COI world — and Master (not OUPV alone) — is the normal legal frame.

Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC)

The MMC is the mariner’s credential book. Your Master Less Than 100 GRT endorsement with a route (Near Coastal, Great Lakes & Inland, or Inland) must match the vessel’s tonnage and voyage. Serving as master without the proper officer endorsement, or with an expired MMC/medical certificate as required, is a personal and company violation.

Related points examiners and boarding officers care about:

• TWIC and identity must align with the mariner presenting for duty.
• Raise-of-grade or route upgrades only count when printed on the MMC (or otherwise properly documented per current NMC practice).
• The master must also ensure required crew hold any ratings or credentials the COI or regulations demand for that vessel.

Certificate of Documentation (COD)

The Certificate of Documentation is issued by the Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center. It identifies a vessel of five net tons or more engaged in certain trades — including coastwise trade such as carrying passengers for hire between U.S. points — with endorsements (e.g., coastwise). The COD shows name, hailing port, official number, tonnage, and ownership. Documented vessels mark the official number permanently on a structural part of the hull and display name and hailing port as required.

Smaller vessels may operate on state registration when below documentation thresholds, but most commercial Master 100 platforms you will run are documented. Documentation proves vessel identity and trade authority; it does not replace the COI for inspected passenger service, and it does not replace your MMC.

Radio Licenses (As Applicable)

Many small passenger vessels carry VHF and may carry additional radio equipment. Depending on the installation, voyage, and radio service rules, a ship radio station license and/or operator licensing may be required. Exam-level expectations:

• Know whether your vessel’s radio suite requires a station license and keep it valid if so.
• Maintain the ability to make distress, urgency, and safety communications; radio paperwork without a working radio is useless.
• Do not confuse the mariner’s MMC with an FCC radio authorization when both apply.

If your company or COI conditions reference specific communications equipment, those conditions are part of your compliance package.

Oil Placard Location

Under 33 CFR 155.450, vessels 26 feet or more in length must post a durable oil-discharge placard (at least 5 by 8 inches) in a conspicuous place in the machinery space or at the bilge-pump control station. The placard states the prohibition on discharging oil in quantities that cause a sheen and warns of penalties. Exam traps:

• Location is machinery space / bilge pump control — not the galley menu board or the flybridge solely for decoration.
• Threshold is length ≥ 26 feet, not "only if over 100 passengers."
• The placard supports the sheen rule and Clean Water Act / pollution prevention culture aboard.

(Garbage/MARPOL placards are related pollution signage tested heavily in safety modules; know oil placard location cold for Deck General document questions.)

Required Logs and Records

Exact log titles vary with vessel size, route, and company SMS, but Master 100 operations commonly require or strongly expect:

• Official or vessel log entries for voyages, casualties, and significant events as applicable
• Drill and instruction records (fire, abandon ship, man overboard, passenger orientation as required)
• Maintenance and inspection records for lifesaving, firefighting, steering, and bilge systems
• Crew lists / manning records showing the COI billet was filled
• Pollution and garbage records where the vessel’s service triggers them

Well-kept records do two jobs: they prove compliance during a boarding, and they force the crew to actually perform the checks. Empty binders with last year’s dates fail both jobs.

Manning on the COI

The COI’s manning block is not a suggestion. If the COI requires a master and two deckhands for a given route and passenger load, sailing short is a violation even if "we’ve always done it with one." The master must:

• Verify required billets are filled with qualified people before departure
• Not exceed persons-allowed totals that include crew and passengers as specified
• Adjust operations (fewer trips, fewer passengers if permitted by the document structure) rather than invent manning

Master Responsible for Documents Aboard

Ultimate operational responsibility sits with the master. Before casting off, confirm:

Owner or office may hold copies ashore, but required originals or valid copies must be aboard as regulations demand. If a document is missing or expired, the professional answer is do not sail until corrected — the same standard you apply to a dead bilge pump or a closed watertight door left open.

Boarding-day mindset

When the Coast Guard steps aboard, they will ask who is in charge, request the COI, check credentials, glance at placards, and sample drill records. A master who knows where every document lives and what the COI numbers say projects the same competence as a clean engine room. Documents are deck general — and they are part of seamanship.