National Maritime Center
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Unapproved Evening Courses at
Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy
An investigation by the Coast Guard has revealed that between January 2015 and December
2019, instruction hours designated for evening courses (courses scheduled to convene at or
after 3PM) provided at Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy in Virginia were cut by 50% or more.
End-of-course exams issued for these courses may also have been compromised. The impacted
courses did not meet the time requirements contained in the terms of their respective Coast
Guard Approvals. As a result, these evening courses were not Coast Guard approved and
certificates issued for these courses are invalid.
To avoid interruption of the Marine Transportation System, the National Maritime Center
(NMC) will allow mariners to retain endorsements associated with these impacted courses by
taking the following actions within six months of this bulletin or prior to any future application
to the NMC, whichever is later:
Mariners with a valid MMC or valid endorsements related to the impacted
courses:
1. Submit an affidavit to the NMC attesting to competence in the subjects covered by the
impacted course(s) and attesting to integrity on the end of course exams for the impacted
courses. A sample affidavit can be found at the following link: https://dco.uscg.mil/Mid-
Atlantic-Maritime-Academy-Course/.
2. The affidavit described above must be accompanied by a certification from a current or most
recent (if not currently employed) mariner employer, attesting to competence of the mariner.
The individual certifying on behalf of the marine employer must be familiar with the mariner’s
work and must be able to judge the mariner’s qualifications, performance and competence.
Companies should authorize, but shall not require, individuals with appropriate knowledge of
the mariner’s performance and competence to provide these certifications. A sample
certification can be found at the following link: https://dco.uscg.mil/Mid-Atlantic-Maritime-
Academy-Course/.
3. If unable to provide an affidavit or marine employer certification, the mariner may retest at
Maritime Institute (who purchased Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy in late 2021) using the end
of course test for the current version of the impacted courses. Coordination for retaking the
tests must be done directly with Maritime Institute and comply with their requirements.
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4. If unable to take and pass an end of course test, the mariner must retake the course to obtain
credit and retain any associated endorsements.
5. All documentation should be sent to the following e-mail: [email protected].
Individuals with no valid MMC or no valid endorsements related to the impacted
courses:
If a course certificate is not expired on the date of this bulletin, individuals without a valid
MMC may retest at Maritime Institute using the end of course test for the current version of
the impacted courses to retain credit for the course. The time to retest will be up until the date
that the certificate would have expired (using expiration terms applicable on the date of this
bulletin) or six months from the date of this bulletin, whichever is later.
Failure to take action:
An individual who does not take any action, as indicated above, will lose any endorsements
received in connection with the impacted courses. Furthermore, sea service earned while
sailing under endorsements to which a mariner was not lawfully entitled may also be impacted.
Impacted mariners will receive an e-mail or letter from the NMC to advise if they are impacted
by the unapproved evening courses. Mariners and marine employers with questions about this
bulletin should contact the NMC Compliance Investigations Branch at (304) 433-3466 or via
e-mail at [email protected].
Sincerely,
/B. W. Clare/
Bradley W. Clare
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard
Commanding Officer
National Maritime Center
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy
1. What has happened to Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy (MAMA)? Will the Coast
Guard take action against them?
MAMA has ceased to operate as a school. The school was sold to Maritime Institute, which is
an independent entity and unaffiliated with the management at MAMA. In addition, two
former employees of MAMA were indicted and are defendants in a federal criminal case in
connection with the VA fraud that occurred as a result of course truncation.
2. Can Suspension & Revocation (S&R) action be taken against mariners who attended
truncated courses?
S&R cannot be taken against mariners whose courses were truncated, as there is no regulation
aimed at mariners requiring them to be aware of the length for which courses were approved.
While the mariners were likely aware that their courses did not meet approval timeframes, it
was incumbent on the school and not the mariners to ensure that the courses met approval
criteria.
3. There is a mariner who attended truncated courses and who is believed to be unsafe
or lack competence. Can this mariner be required to retrain instead of submitting an
affidavit?
The National Maritime Center performed a MISLE data pull and matched available Marine
Casualty (MC) Information against the MMC Reference Numbers of mariners who attended
truncated courses. No increased risk to the marine environment due to truncation was
noticed. Notwithstanding this data, all mariners who took truncated courses will be entered
into a MISLE case. In the event a future MC can be linked to the truncated training, this can be
taken into consideration when pursuing remedial action (to include retraining) for mariner(s)
determined to be at fault.
In the meantime, only mariners whose employers can attest to the mariners’ competence will
be able to submit an affidavit in lieu of retesting or retraining. Employers should use their best
judgment when deciding whether to provide a certification attesting to mariner competence. If
a marine employer believes that a mariner in their employ is incompetent or poses a risk to the
marine environment due to a lack of skill(s) covered in the truncated courses, the marine
employer should not provide a certification. A mariner whose marine employer does not
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provide a certification will have the option to retest or retrain. If a mariner is unable to pass an
end of course test, complete retraining will be required.
4. Will all mariners be required to provide an affidavit and employer certification? What
if the mariner does not submit an affidavit with employer certification?
Mariners who fail to submit an affidavit will have the option to retest or retake impacted
courses to retain related endorsements. Mariners who fail to do so within an approved time
will have any endorsement(s) associated with truncated course(s) invalidated.
5. Are marine employers required to sign off on a mariner’s competence?
There is no requirement to sign off on a mariner’s competence. The marine employer should
have someone with the knowledge to judge the mariner’s competence/skillset(s) associated
with truncated courses decide whether to provide a marine employer certification.
6. A marine employer has a mariner with endorsements or courses that are not
required for their position (e.g., the mariner is operating on a domestic vessel, but
some or all of the mariner’s impacted endorsements/truncated courses are STCW
related). Can the marine employer still sign off on the mariner’s competence?
So long as the marine employer believes that they can accurately judge the mariner’s
competence/skillset(s) associated with the impacted endorsement(s) the marine employer may
certify.
7. If a mariner is in between jobs, what should that mariner do?
The mariner can still submit an affidavit and can obtain a certification as to their competence
from their most recent marine employer. If the mariner cannot obtain a certification, the
mariner can retest or retake the impacted courses to retain credit.
8. If a mariner took truncated courses at MAMA, but has not used those courses to
obtain an endorsement, can the mariner still submit those courses to obtain an
endorsement?
The mariner can retest or retake the impacted training if the course certificate is not currently
expired. Expiration timeframes can be found in NVIC 03-14, Ch 1. Generally, courses used for
domestic endorsements will be good for 1 year from the date of course completion and courses
used for STCW endorsements will be good for 5 years from the date of course completion.
Mariners with questions about the validity of their certificates should call the NMC contact
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center at 1-888-IASKNMC (427-5662) to confirm. Course certificates for truncated courses
submitted to the NMC, but not used to obtain endorsement(s) will be removed from mariner(s)
records and will not be accepted past initial expiration.
9. Should marine employers avoid hiring mariners who attended truncated courses?
At present, there is no known negative impact to maritime safety because of truncation.
Marine employers should independently assess mariners’ skills and abilities and should make
employment decisions based on their own assessment.
10. How can a retest at Maritime Institute be arranged?
Maritime Institute should be contacted directly by the mariners to arrange for retesting. They
have agreed to retest the mariners at no cost; however, travel will not be reimbursed.
11. Who can a mariner or marine employer reach out to with additional questions about
what they need to do?
Mariners and marine employers with questions about truncation should contact the NMC
