About Captain Mike: Master Mariner & Instructor

Master, unlimited tonnage, any oceansPilotage: Prince William Sound25 years with ExxonLieutenant, U.S. Naval ReserveMaine Maritime Academy graduateDrillship Captain, Discoverer EnterpriseMITAGS · MMA instructor

Why I built Mariners Online

In all my years teaching maritime courses, certain questions came up in every class. Guaranteed.

For a five-day class, one of the first was, “What time are we getting out on Friday?”

Then came the exam questions. “What’s the passing grade?” Most often, in the classes I taught, it was 70 percent. “How many questions?”

You could almost see them doing the arithmetic. Fifty questions, 70 percent to pass: “Okay, I can miss 15. I’ve got this.”

Then we’d get to the questions that needed more explaining. “What actually counts as sea time?” More recently, “What’s the difference between national and STCW endorsements?”

Those questions are a big part of why I built Mariners Online. They keep coming up, and people deserve explanations they can understand and use. I’ve also watched good mariners lose months to a sea-service letter that didn’t say the right thing, or an upgrade path nobody explained to them.

I’m a retired merchant ship captain and maritime educator. My approach here is the same one I used in the classroom: explain the requirement, show an example, and work through it step by step. Don’t assume everybody already knows the terminology.

Whether you’re considering your first maritime job or working toward your next license or endorsement, I want this site to help you understand what comes next, and what to check before spending your time and money.

And if you’re wondering what time we’re getting out on Friday, this part you can read at your own pace.

Capt. Mike

Young Mike in a red T-shirt taking a sextant sight on deck at twilight — **Navigating by the stars, about 50 years ago.** Taking a sextant sight aboard an Exxon tanker.

At a glance

LicenseMaster, unlimited tonnage, any oceans, with a pilotage endorsement for Prince William Sound.

Tankers25 years with Exxon, from Third Mate to Captain. Last ship: the Exxon Long Beach, sister ship to the Exxon Valdez.

DrillshipChief Mate, then Captain, of the drillship Discoverer Enterprise.

Service10 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving as a Lieutenant.

Before ExxonCrew boats in the Gulf of America, then a year as an AB with Mobil Oil.

Spill responseManager at Clean Sound Cooperative, an oil spill response cooperative.

TeachingTaught Chief Mate to Master, Tankerman-PIC and Able Seafarer at MITAGS and Maine Maritime Academy; four summers as a watch officer on the Training Ship State of Maine cadet cruise.

How I came up

Out of Maine Maritime Academy I went to work on crew boats in the Gulf of America. After that I spent a year as an AB with Mobil Oil. That year on the unlicensed side of the house stuck with me, and it's a big part of why this site covers ratings and endorsements as carefully as it covers officer licenses.

Then came 25 years with Exxon, climbing from Third Mate to Captain. Along the way I earned my Master's license, unlimited tonnage, any oceans, and a pilotage endorsement for Prince William Sound. My last Exxon ship was the Exxon Long Beach, sister ship to the Exxon Valdez. I also served ten years in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a Lieutenant.

Captain Mike at his desk aboard the tanker Exxon Benicia, with a stack of paperwork, a desk phone and an early computer terminal — **The paperwork came with the job.** This is me aboard the *Exxon Benicia* at the Exxon dock in Benicia, California. She was a 906-foot tanker in the Alaska crude trade, carrying more than a million barrels (over 42 million gallons) of North Slope crude from the Valdez Marine Terminal to West Coast refineries. If I look tired, there’s a reason. We’d been in fog from the dock in Valdez all the way to the dock in Benicia, about five days and some 1,800 nautical miles, without a break. California Maritime Academy cadet T. H. Miller needed a photograph showing how paperwork and computers had become a big part of shipping. There I was, with plenty of paperwork and that dinosaur of a computer in the background. Later in my career, email joined the pile. The equipment changed. The paperwork stayed. Photograph by T. H. Miller, California Maritime Academy. Published in *Merchant Marine Officers’ Handbook*, fifth edition, Cornell Maritime Press, 1989.

Offshore, I sailed as Chief Mate and then Captain of the drillship Discoverer Enterprise.

If you're weighing a tanker career or thinking about piloting, I've written about both: Tanker Careers → Harbor Piloting →

Ashore: spill response and the classroom

After going to sea I managed Clean Sound Cooperative, an oil spill response cooperative. That work showed me the shoreside side of the industry, and it's the background behind the Oil Spill Response Careers page.

In the classroom I've taught Chief Mate to Master, Tankerman-PIC and Able Seafarer courses at MITAGS and Maine Maritime Academy. For four summers I also sailed as a watch officer on the Training Ship State of Maine, standing watches with cadets on their way to their first licenses.

How these guides are checked

Every requirement is cited

Guides link to the section of 46 CFR, the NVIC, or the NMC checklist each number comes from, so you can check my work.

Every guide is dated

The byline shows what the guide was checked against and when. Regulations change; the date tells you how fresh the check is.

Traps come from experience

The "traps" sections come from the mistakes I've seen most often, at sea and in the classroom.

How AI is used

Guides are researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed, corrected, and approved by me against current regulations and NMC guidance. The experience, the judgment calls, and the Captain's Tips are mine.

Independent

Mariners Online is not affiliated with the U.S. Coast Guard or the National Maritime Center. Always confirm against the current NMC checklist before you file. See the disclaimer and affiliate disclosure.

Spot an error?

If a requirement has changed or something here doesn't match your NMC evaluation, email me at captk@marinersonline.com. Corrections get made and the guide gets re-dated. I can't evaluate individual applications by email; for that, see Need Professional Help?

Where to start

Explore maritime careers AB to Third Mate Tankerman-PIC guide Document my sea time