Tomorrow, RDML Kevin Cook, Director of Prevention Policy, and CAPT Stalfort, CO of the National Maritime Center, will be providing an update on mariner credentialling to the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Infrastructure. The Coast Guard Compass will be tweeting the testimony live @cgcompass.
Today I received some much appreciated feedback from a pleased NMC customer, he gave me permission to share it here:
Dear Sir,
I am writing to publicly praise the USCG for their outstanding work at the NOLA REC and NMC. We have all read and heard so many "horror" stories about mariners having delays and other problems with the USCG in getting their licenses’ renewed or upgraded, I'd like to share my recent experience.
With my license expiring in Jan 2010, I thought I'd better get my renewal package in now. On Sept 14th, I mailed my renewal package to NOLA (my REC), from Jacksonville, FL, and today, Oct 5th, I received my new MMC in the mail. 21 days! WOW!!!!
It was a painless, "cut and dry" process - just follow the check list, review your package and submit it. Everything is available on the NMC website in a user friendly format.
I have no complaints and would just like to thank the USCG for an outstanding job. I am very proud of our Commandant and his team. My only regret is that I don’t know the names of the professionals at the NOLA REC and NMC to personally thank them.
Sincerely,
Bruce D. Sarsfield
Master
USNS HUNTER
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This week the Coast Guard's National Maritime Center (NMC) hosted the quarterly Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC) meeting. MERPAC serves as a deliberative body to advise the Coast Guard on matters relating to the training, qualification, licensing, certification and fitness of seamen serving in the U.S. merchant marine. The committee members' expertise, knowledge, and experience in the U.S. merchant marine affairs are invaluable to the Coast Guard's Office of Operating and Environmental Standards.
Joe Keefe, at The Maritime Executive, has a great recap of the meeting, and more specifically a nice update on the performance of the NMC. We discussed back in February efforts at the NMC to clear a credentialing backlog caused by an increase in the number of physical exams and insufficient medical screening personnel. The medical screening requirement is directly linked to marine safety and based on recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board. You can see the most current performance report from the NMC here, showing that the backlog has been cleared and processing times are on the decline.
The improvement and performance of the NMC and our commitment to continuous dialogue with our customers and maritime stakeholders are examples of the mission execution benefits of a change centric Coast Guard committed to transparency.
