12.15-7—Service or training requirements.
(a)
An applicant for an endorsement as qualified member of the engine department shall furnish the Coast Guard proof of qualification based on six months' service in a rating at least equal to that of wiper or coal passer.
(b)
Training programs approved by the Commanding Officer, National Maritime Center, may be substituted for the required service at sea in accordance with the following:
(1)
A graduate of a school ship may qualify for a rating endorsement as qualified member of the engine department upon satisfactory completion of the course of instruction. For this purpose, school ship is interpreted to mean an institution which offers a complete course of instruction, including a period of sea training, in the skills appropriate to the rating of qualified member of the engine department.
(2)
Training programs other than those classified as a school ship may be substituted for up to one-half of the required service at sea.
(c)
To qualify to receive an STCW endorsement for service as a “rating forming part of a watch in a manned engine-room or designated to perform duties in a periodically unmanned engine-room” on a seagoing vessel driven by main propulsion machinery 750 kW [1,000 hp] propulsion power or more, an applicant shall prove seagoing service that includes training and experience associated with engine-room watchkeeping and involves the performance of duties carried out under the direct supervision of a qualified engineer officer or a member of a qualified rating in the engine department. The training must establish that the applicant has achieved the standard of competence prescribed in table A-III/4 of the STCW Code (incorporated by reference in § 12.01-3 ), in accordance with the methods of demonstrating competence and the criteria for evaluating competence specified in that table.