Seaman's ID Cards for Private Boat Crew Members

[Sergey]

Fellow sailors! My boat is USCG documented pleasure vessel and I plan to hire crew from Ukraine to cruise Carribean only, no US ports of call. I wonder if I can issue my own crew ID cards or I have to use US ID forms? All members will have their passports of course. Do I have follow any rules or it's just like an employee ID cards? I would appreciate any advice

[rustypirate]

If they all have passports, then what would be the use of ID cards???

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Sergey

... My boat is USCG documented pleasure vessel ...

The Merchant Mariner's Document (MMD), previously called a Z-Card, is a kind of Merchant Mariner Credential previously issued by the United States Coast Guard in accordance with the STCW guidelines, and, until completely phased out, remains one of the standard documents required for all crewmembers of U.S. ships with a Gross Register Tonnage of over 100, and for all vessels required to operate with a licensed Master, regardless of size.

For more information about the NMC's Mariner Licensing and Documentation program visit USCG National Maritime Center or the Homeport site at Loading Homeport... and select Merchant Mariners.

➥ USCG National Maritime Center

➥ http://homeport.uscg.mil/mycg/portal/ep/home.do

[osirissail]

If you hire any national that is not from a major west European country to crew on your vessel in the Caribbean - please do some research first. You will find more than a few island countries that do not allow them to land without a prior obtained visa. There are lists of countries contained in the crew members home country embassy websites that list countries where they can visit on a normal arrival visa (what we get stamped in our passport) and countries where they must have a pre-approved visa prior to arrival. Although the world has changed dramatically in the last decade these little island countries have not updated their visa requirement rules since the cold war years ended.