Problems Receiving an NOE for Oral exam 1st time aplication

[Unregistered]

Hello ,

I am an engine cadet and have now sat my IAMI exam and waiting for the results. in the mean time i am gathering all the information and required documents to apply this week for my NOE to sit the oral exam

I have increasingly become very concerned about the chance that my application will be refused this is due to a discrepancy in my watch keeping time recorded on my testimonial pages . they have been filled out to show i have a total of 6 months and 2 days over my two sea phases . however my total sea time i have recorded is 5 months and 28 days this is due to a mistake by my 1st ships c/e when the form was filled out and i left the ship a few days early due to a family death . iv received assurances that my shortage of sea time will be over looked due to circumstances but i have the worry now that the NOE will be refused as the dates for watch keeping don't match up with the time spent on the ship.

should i be worried or will a cover letter explaining the situation send along with my NOE application help to clear up the problem my biggest fear is a failure to get my NOE will make the result of my IAMI exam if a pass irrelevant and i will be back at square one.

has anyone had a similar problem on receiving there NOE or are my fears not founded ?

thank you to anyone who can give me any incite into there experience of receiving there NOE or problems they had to overcome so close to the end of my time as a cadet and im getting even more paranoid its going to go wrong at the last hurdle.

[The Kraken]

My friend had some major problems with his NOE: They sent his TRB back once for 'messy handwriting', missing info (such as ships callsign), and watchkeeping that didn't match up (somewhat similar to your situation). He rectified the problem areas and sent it to his companies HQ. They agreed it was fine and he sent it again, again it was sent back for various reasons (with a note explaining) and he was somewhat vexed. He phoned his company and they again took his TRB and phoned the MCA directly, hes now in the process of waiting for his NOE, although about 4 months later than anyone else.

What I'm trying to say is I wouldn't worry too much until you hear back. Firstly, I would see if you could get a cover letter off your company explaining, it would pack more of a punch than one from yourself (no insult meant). If your TRB is refused on the grounds you stated above phone your company training officer and ask them to explain the situation to the MCA personally. If they know about the time situation are were happy for you to send your TRB to the MCA in the first place it shouldn't be a problem. At the very worst you may have to go back to sea for maybe a week, but I think this is highly unlikely.

[Unregistered]

thanks for the reply

yea Im going to just hope for the best and hope that they do not flag it up iv been driving myself crazy after working so hard for over 2 and a half years just to be given the chance to sit my ORAL for a coc , been left feeling like iv crossed every hurdle to get here i cant believe there is another in front of me. the fact is i have done the sea time i have done the book got the HNC and i have a good workbook to show for it i really hope that the folk who decide at the MCA can look at the situation and see that i have done everything in my power to produce what they have asked for under difficult circumstances and will grant me a chance to sit the final hurdle and get on with finding a job and moving my carrier forward.

[HolyNougat]

So how much sea time do you actually have? - did you actually get the 6 months required watchkeeping time or not? - that point is rather vague from your post and also, who assured you that having less would be overlooked?
I would not worry about it too much though - If your only a couple of days short just get on any ship you can think of for the weekend - call up P&O ferries or Red funnel - I am sure the college will help you out if you ask the right people - and that is even if the MCA throw back the application, which they may well not.

[ETwhat?]

The discretion of whether or not the book is acceptable lies with the MCA, however your company will have seen a range of different circumstances so their thoughts are worth while, put a covering letter in explaining what the issue is and why it happened. Get the thing sent in and then sadly its just a waiting job to hear back, then if they refuse it they will explain why and it will be between you and the company to fix it. this may be more sea time but if it does come back tell whoever told you it would be ok as they may be able to help.

[Unregistered]

the sea time i have is 5 months and 28 days , i am short 2 days of sea time i have been given assurances from the MCA that the 2 day shortage will be over looked i have that in writing after contacting them. the problem is watch keeping time on the testimonials ads up to 6 months and 2 days witch obviously with 5 months and 28 days sea time is not possible im going to change 1 of the testimonials to reduce the watch keeping time as you only need 3 months total watch keeping to satisfy the mca i plan now on reducing it and sending a cover letter explaining the editing of the testimonial page with my company's blessing and advice first.

hopefully this will be ok and no additional sea time will be required as im not with a company known to want cadets much after they have done there 2 trips.

[Clanky]

I would ask your company to send a letter explaining the situation, for some bizarre reason the MCA seem to accept shipping companies at their word, something which no-one else with a grain of sense would ever do.

[alistairuk]

the sea time i have is 5 months and 28 days , i am short 2 days of sea time i have been given assurances from the MCA that the 2 day shortage will be over looked i have that in writing after contacting them. the problem is watch keeping time on the testimonials ads up to 6 months and 2 days witch obviously with 5 months and 28 days sea time is not possible im going to change 1 of the testimonials to reduce the watch keeping time as you only need 3 months total watch keeping to satisfy the mca i plan now on reducing it and sending a cover letter explaining the editing of the testimonial page with my company's blessing and advice first.

hopefully this will be ok and no additional sea time will be required as im not with a company known to want cadets much after they have done there 2 trips.

Don't modify the testimonial - it will cause more problems.

[Unregistered]

ok thanks guys i will get in touch with the shipping company and ask them to clarify in a letter my actual watch keeping time and with a cover letter explaining the error in the testimonial , im with a 3rd party training company so it will be via them also might take a bit longer to get the info and an NOE but i want this stuff sent down correct as i don't want to risk needing to sit the IAMI again if i get rejected. because at the end of the day i have done the time its just been recorded incorrect.

[HolyNougat]

Yeah - although I don't think you will have any problems, it all seems legit - it is a common enough problem anyway, lots of people end up calculating their days incorrectly on sea service testimonials, so the MCA are used to this type of thing.

[The Kraken]

I'm not sure if IAMIs follow the same as the SQAs, but the SQA certificate only needs to be sent to the MCA for you CoC with your NOE and other evidence after you pass your orals, and they are valid for 3 years from issue date. So, even if your NOE was rejected you may not have to resit (can some engineers confirm this?).