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United States · Captain’s license

How to get your captain’s license, step by step

Start by working out which endorsement your sea time supports, then collect the paperwork, pass the exam or an approved course, and send one complete application to the Coast Guard. Order matters when you get your captain license: the Coast Guard may refuse to process an incomplete application, and an approved one lapses after 12 months.

  • 6Steps from sea time to credential
  • 8 hoursOne day of sea service
  • 4 hoursShortest day on boats under 100 gross tons
Visit the National Maritime Center

Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

How do I get my captain’s license?

  1. Choose the endorsement and route. Six or fewer passengers on an uninspected vessel calls for an OUPV; inspected vessels need a Master. Your sea time decides which you can get and where.
  2. Document your sea service. Get letters or records for each boat, showing the vessel, its tonnage, your dates and the waters. For your own boat under 200 GRT, attest to it yourself and include proof of ownership.
  3. Pass the medical exam, the drug test, and the first-aid and CPR courses.
  4. Enroll for your TWIC with TSA, or have proof that you’ve applied.
  5. Pass the Coast Guard exam once you’re approved for it, or pass a Coast Guard-approved course that substitutes for the exam.
  6. Send the complete application with the fees. The Coast Guard issues your Merchant Mariner Credential after its record checks and once it has proof of your TWIC.

If you sit the Coast Guard exam rather than a course, it comes after the Coast Guard approves your application. Once approved, the application and your physical exam stay valid for 12 months.

Every requirement in one table →

Logging your hours on the water

The Coast Guard counts sea service in days, and a day is 8 hours of watchstanding or day-working. On vessels of less than 100 GRT it can accept a shorter day if 8 hours doesn’t fit the boat’s schedule, but never less than 4 hours.

Unless it’s a Certificate of Discharge, each record must show the vessel’s name and official number, its gross tonnage, propulsion power and mode, what you did on board, your dates of service and the routes you were on. Time on other people’s boats needs letters from the owners or from credentialed crew.

Becoming a boat captain without your own boat

You don’t need to own a boat. Service on any vessel counts if you can document it, so time as crew on charter, fishing or work boats builds toward the 12 months an OUPV needs. Experience on foreign vessels can count too, after the Coast Guard checks that it’s a fair equivalent, with an official English translation of your records.

Sending the application

You can apply in person, by mail or electronically, in a manner the Coast Guard prescribes, and fees are paid electronically unless the Coast Guard offers another option. Under 46 CFR 10.217 you can apply at any Regional Examination Center or another location the Coast Guard designates. The National Maritime Center publishes the current forms and checklists, and you can contact it by email at IASKNMC@uscg.mil.

Fees for an original credential →What the Merchant Mariner Credential is →
Sources: eCFR · National Maritime Center and 3 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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Everything else, in one place

OverviewCoursesCostOnlineRequirementsSix-pack (OUPV)100 ton MasterWho needs oneCredential (MMC)

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