Last updated 2026-08-21
TL;DR
A six-pack captain holds a Coast Guard OUPV endorsement and may carry no more than six passengers for hire on an uninspected vessel under 100 gross tons. Start by documenting 360 days of vessel service, then add a TWIC, a CG-719K physical, a drug test, first aid and CPR, and an approved course or the exam. Apply to NMC. Confirm fees there. No honest writer can promise processing time.
What is a six-pack captain?
A six-pack captain is a mariner who holds a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential with an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels (OUPV) endorsement. That federal officer endorsement is what lets you take passengers for hire on an uninspected vessel. The hard cap is six passengers on boats under 100 gross tons. The nickname is dock talk, not a title printed on the card.
Federal manning law still wants a licensed person in charge. 46 U.S.C. 8903 states, "A licensed individual shall be in command of an uninspected passenger vessel." [2] 46 CFR 15.605 then requires that vessel to be under the direction and control of a Coast Guard-credentialed individual. [5]
The vessel definition is the other half. Under 46 U.S.C. 2101, an uninspected passenger vessel of less than 100 gross tons is the vessel carrying not more than 6 passengers, including at least one passenger for hire, or a crewed charter in that same six-person band. [3] Carry seven paying people on a small boat and you have generally left the six-pack world. You are looking at inspected small passenger vessel rules, a Certificate of Inspection, and a different license.
46 CFR 11.467 also limits the OUPV endorsement itself to uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 GRT. [1]
A state boating safety card is not this. Recreational authority and passenger-for-hire authority are different piles of paper. Mix them up and you get a national myth, not a credential.
People also confuse a six-pack with captain-for-the-day marketing. The Coast Guard cares whether consideration flowed as a condition of carriage. 46 U.S.C. 2101 treats a passenger for hire as a passenger for whom consideration is contributed as a condition of carriage, whether it flows directly or indirectly to the owner, charterer, operator, agent, or anyone with an interest in the vessel. [3] If money, or something else of value, is the ticket onto the boat, you are in passenger-for-hire facts.
I would not run gray-area trips and hope. Either you are carrying passengers for hire under an OUPV, you are on a true bareboat charter where the charterer controls the vessel, or you are recreational. Pretending is how people lose boats.
How do you start six-pack captain?
You start by counting real sea days, then you assemble an original-officer file for the National Maritime Center. The core sequence is 360 days of qualifying service, a TWIC, a medical physical, a chemical test, first aid and CPR, the exam or an approved course, and a complete application. Confirm current fees with NMC. Do not trust anyone who sells you a guaranteed issue date.
I would do TWIC early because enrollment appointments run long in some cities. I would not pay for sea-time mills. Fake days are a criminal problem, not a shortcut.
46 CFR 11.467 sets the inland OUPV sea service floor at 360 days of service in the operation of vessels. [1] Near-coastal needs those 360 days, including at least 90 days on ocean or near-coastal waters. [1] 46 CFR 11.201 also sets fitness and recency rules for officer endorsements, and an OUPV applicant must be at least 18 years of age. [4]
After the days, you still need identity and fitness paper. TWIC sits in the general MMC application rules. [6] Medical certification sits in 46 CFR 10.301. [10] Chemical testing sits in 46 CFR part 16. [9] First aid and CPR are original-officer requirements in 46 CFR 11.201. [4] Sea time itself gets written up under 46 CFR 10.232, often on form CG-719S for small vessels. [11]
Then you prove professional competence. Sit the Coast Guard exam at a Regional Exam Center, or finish a course that NMC still lists as approved. Check the list the week you pay, because approvals lapse. [14]
Mail or deliver a complete package. Incomplete files sit. NMC workload notes move around, and I will not invent a processing time for you. Confirm the live fee table before you write the check. [7][8]
If your days are thin, wait. The fastest path that fails a sea-service review is still a fail.
How many passengers can a six-pack captain legally carry?
A typical six-pack captain on a vessel under 100 gross tons may carry no more than six passengers, including at least one passenger for hire. That six-person cap is in the uninspected passenger vessel definition in 46 U.S.C. 2101. [3] Crew you employ are not passengers. People who paid to be there are.
Count heads the way a boarding officer will. If seven friends Venmo you for a reef trip, you have seven passengers, not a private group. The statute looks at consideration as a condition of carriage. [3]
There is a separate uninspected passenger vessel definition at 100 gross tons and up that uses a 12-passenger figure. [3] That is not the boat most new operators are on. Do not borrow the 12-passenger number for a 30-foot center console.
An OUPV endorsement is limited to uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 GRT under 46 CFR 11.467. [1] If you want more than six paying passengers on a small vessel, you are usually talking inspected boats and a different officer endorsement. That path is slower and costs real shipyard money. I would not promise a customer seven seats on a six-pack boat. Sell six, or get the vessel inspected.
How many sea days do you need for an OUPV?
Inland OUPV needs 360 days of service in the operation of vessels. Near-coastal OUPV needs 360 days, including at least 90 days of service on ocean or near-coastal waters. Those floors are in 46 CFR 11.467. [1] The same section states, "The minimum service required to qualify an applicant for an endorsement as operator of uninspected passenger vessels on inland waters is 360 days of service in the operation of vessels." [1]
A day is not a vibe. Coast Guard sea service rules treat a day as a calendar day of qualifying work, with extra rules when you try to claim multiple days inside 24 hours. Read 46 CFR 10.232 before you multiply hours into days. [11]
You also need recency. 46 CFR 11.201 requires qualifying service close to the application, inside a seven-year window for officer endorsements. [4] Old time from the 1990s does not carry a new original if you never went back to sea.
Document it. Small-vessel operators often use CG-719S. Letters from vessel owners work when they include dates, area of operation, vessel identifiers, horsepower or tonnage, and the work you actually did. A one-line note that says you ran a boat a lot is junk. Nobody has good public data on NMC rejection rates. The closest signal you will get is the file coming back.
Time on your own recreational boat can count if you were operating it and you can prove it. Trailer photos help nobody if the form is empty.
What papers does the Coast Guard actually want?
NMC wants an original-officer package, not a speech about how much you love boats. Expect an application (CG-719B), sea service evidence under 46 CFR 10.232, TWIC proof under the general application rules, a medical form (CG-719K) leading to a medical certificate, a chemical test, first aid and CPR cards, identity evidence, and either exam results or an approved-course certificate. [4][6][9][10][11]
Fees are set as Coast Guard user fees in 46 CFR 10.219. [7] The dollar line moves. Confirm the live amounts on the National Maritime Center fees page before you pay. [8]
If you want a paper checklist in one binder, OUPVPath sells a $149 one-time USCG OUPV + Bareboat Kit. Use it as a file index. It does not replace NMC, and this site is not your caseworker.
I would not buy we-submit-for-you shops that never show you the sea-service forms. You sign the application. False statements on Coast Guard forms are their own problem.
Keep copies of everything you mail. NMC is a records shop. If they ask for a missing page, you want the missing page.
Do you need a TWIC, a medical certificate, and a drug test?
Yes. Plan on all three for a normal original OUPV.
TWIC is built into MMC application procedure. [6] Enroll through TSA's TWIC program. [12] Appointments and card production times change. Confirm with TSA, not with a forum screenshot from 2019.
The medical certificate comes out of 46 CFR 10.301 after a physical that meets Coast Guard medical standards. [10] Officers do not get a forever physical. Validity periods are shorter than the five-year MMC. Confirm the current medical certificate term with NMC when you apply. I will not invent it here.
Chemical testing for mariners is in 46 CFR part 16, including the periodic testing rules in § 16.220. [9] Original packages need a current negative test from a process NMC will accept, usually a DOT panel. If your test is stale, you retake it. Cheap clinics that cannot produce a proper chain of custody are a waste of money.
Should you take an approved course or sit the Coast Guard exam?
Either path can work. An NMC-approved OUPV course can stand in for sitting the exam, if that course is still on the approved list when you graduate. [14] The Coast Guard exam is still the other door.
I would take the course if I have not sat a timed multiple-choice exam in a decade, or if my navigation plot work is rusty. I would sit the exam if I already think in the Navigation Rules and I do not want three weekends of class.
Watch the sales pitch. A course that is not approved for OUPV original is just a class. Confirm the course approval on the NMC training list the week you enroll. [14] Expired approvals happen.
Radar observer is not the OUPV itself. Towing is not the OUPV itself. Do not buy extra endorsements you cannot use on the boat you actually have.
How much does a six-pack captain license cost?
There is no single honest sticker price. You will pay TSA for TWIC, a clinic for the physical, a lab for the drug test, a provider for first aid and CPR, either a course or travel to an exam, and Coast Guard user fees under 46 CFR 10.219. [7][8][12]
I will not invent a current Coast Guard fee, a TWIC fee, or a clinic average. Those numbers move. Confirm with TSA, your medical provider, and the NMC fees page. [8][12]
Course tuition is all over the map. A weekend class in a coastal city costs more than a slow online-plus-plotting hybrid. Pay for an approval that is still valid, not for a hotel ballroom.
Sea time you already have is free. Sea time you buy from a stranger is how people get into trouble. Budget copies, postage, and a second drug test if the first one ages out while you wait on a missing sea-service letter.
Inland or near-coastal: which OUPV endorsement should you get?
Pick the waters you will actually work. Inland OUPV covers inland waters as the Coast Guard draws them. Near-coastal OUPV needs the extra 90 days on ocean or near-coastal waters inside your 360. [1]
If you only run a lake or a river, inland is the honest endorsement. Paying for near-coastal class time when you have no ocean days wastes money and still fails the service review.
Near-coastal is the better fit if you will leave the inlet. Check the boundary lines. Seeing the ocean from the parking lot is not a legal description.
Great Lakes and tightly limited local OUPV stories exist. If your water is a specific river or a harbor only, ask NMC how they will print the limitation. Do not assume a forum comment. Routes on the card are what boarding officers read, not what you meant to apply for.
What can you actually run in the first year with a six-pack?
The card lets you operate an uninspected passenger vessel within the endorsement, the route, and the six-passenger cap. [1][3] It does not set your insurance, your state numbering, your local landing permit, or your sales tax account.
I would get insurance that actually says passenger-for-hire before I take the first paid trip. Recreational policies dump you. Confirm with the carrier in writing.
Write a simple ops kit. Passenger count. Float plan. Weather abort. Safety briefing. A way to take money that matches how you described the trip. If you advertised a fishing trip with you as captain, that is not a bareboat.
Bareboat is a real structure. The charterer gets possession and control, picks the crew, and you are not secretly the captain they were required to hire. If you want that paper path, keep it clean. Mixing a fake bareboat with a six-pack ad is how you get both definitions thrown at you.
How is a six-pack different from a 100-ton master?
A Master 100-ton credential is a different officer endorsement, with different sea service, different exam modules, and authority that can reach inspected vessels in ways OUPV cannot. OUPV is the six-passenger uninspected niche. [1]
If your business plan is 12-person sunset trips on a small inspected boat, OUPV is the wrong hill. If your plan is six people and a center console, Master 100 is usually extra exam pain you do not need yet.
Raise of grade later is a real path. Earn the six-pack, work, then add service toward 100-ton if the boats get bigger. I would not sit both exams in one anxious summer unless an employer is paying.
Tonnage on the card and gross tons on the vessel still have to match the work. Do not assume a six-pack magically covers a 99-ton inspected dinner boat.
Do state rules still apply after you have the federal card?
Yes. The MMC is federal. The boat still has a state number, a state boating safety law, and sometimes a local commercial-use permit. Landing rules in one state are not inside 46 CFR 11.467.
After you hold the card, renewal is still a federal MMC event, plus whatever your state piles on the vessel. If you work the Gulf, read six-pack captain renewal in florida and six-pack captain renewal in alabama. Pacific operators should look at six-pack captain renewal in california, six-pack captain renewal in alaska, and six-pack captain renewal in hawaii. East Coast examples include six-pack captain renewal in connecticut, six-pack captain renewal in delaware, and six-pack captain renewal in georgia.
Those pages will not replace NMC. They keep you from thinking the federal card erased the state.
How do you keep the credential from going stale?
The MMC itself runs on a five-year cycle under the renewal rules in 46 CFR 10.227. [13] Medical certificates expire sooner. TWIC expires on its own TSA clock. [12] Let any one of them die and your next paid trip gets awkward.
Track three dates. MMC. Medical. TWIC. I keep them on a paper calendar because phones get dropped overboard.
Renewal still wants recency and fitness. Do not vanish for six years and expect a friendly phone waiver. Confirm current renewal evidence with NMC, not with these pages.
If you want a start page for the paper stack, go to /start. OUPVPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company. Confirm every fee, form edition, and processing note with the Coast Guard and TSA. No approval guarantee lives here, so you will not find one.
Frequently asked questions
What is six-pack captain?
A six-pack captain is a person who holds a Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential with an OUPV endorsement. That card authorizes passenger-for-hire work on an uninspected vessel, usually capped at six passengers under 100 gross tons. The nickname is dock shorthand. The legal terms are OUPV and uninspected passenger vessel in 46 U.S.C. 2101 and 46 CFR 11.467.
How do you start six-pack captain?
Count 360 qualifying sea days, then build an original-officer file: TWIC, CG-719K physical, drug test, first aid and CPR, exam or an NMC-approved course, and the application. Inland versus near-coastal changes the 90-day ocean piece. Confirm fees with the National Maritime Center. Nobody can honestly promise your processing time.
Does recreational boat time count toward OUPV sea service?
It can, if you were actually operating the vessel and you can document dates, area, and the boat. 46 CFR 10.232 is the sea-service rule set, and small-vessel operators often use CG-719S. Empty letters and trailer photos without dates do not rate. If the time was only as a passenger, it does not count.
Can you carry six passengers plus the captain?
Yes. The six-person cap is passengers, not souls on board. Employed crew are not passengers. Paying guests are. If a friend paid to be there, that friend is a passenger even if they also handle a line. Count the way 46 U.S.C. 2101 counts consideration, not the way a marketing flyer counts seats.
Is STCW required for a domestic six-pack?
A national OUPV for ordinary domestic six-passenger work is not the same credential as an STCW officer endorsement. If you later take jobs on seagoing vessels on international voyages, STCW can enter the picture. For a lake, bay, or near-coastal six-pack, do not buy STCW classes until an employer or NMC tells you that you need them.
How long is a Merchant Mariner Credential good for?
MMC renewal rules in 46 CFR 10.227 run on a five-year cycle. Medical certificates and TWIC run on shorter, separate clocks. Confirm the dates printed on each card. Working after any one of them expires is how boarding interviews go badly. Track all three, not only the plastic MMC.
Do you need radar observer for an OUPV?
Not as part of the basic OUPV itself. Radar observer is a separate qualification some mariners add when the vessel and route actually use radar as required equipment. Buying it because a school bundled it is often wasted money. Get OUPV first. Add radar if the boat and the job need it.
What is a passenger for hire?
Under 46 U.S.C. 2101, a passenger for hire is a passenger for whom consideration is contributed as a condition of carriage, whether that value flows directly or indirectly to the owner, charterer, operator, agent, or anyone with an interest in the vessel. Shared fuel with a required payment to ride still looks like consideration. Recreational sharing with no ticket is a different fact pattern.
Can you operate in ocean waters on an inland OUPV?
No. Inland is inland as the Coast Guard draws it. Near-coastal OUPV is the endorsement that demanded at least 90 of your 360 days on ocean or near-coastal waters under 46 CFR 11.467. If you will leave the inlet with paying passengers, get the near-coastal endorsement before you advertise ocean trips.
Who do you confirm fees with?
Coast Guard user fees sit in 46 CFR 10.219, but the dollar amounts you actually pay belong on the National Maritime Center fees page. TWIC fees belong to TSA. Clinic and course prices belong to those vendors. Confirm each one at the time you pay. No honest guide can lock down a current fee for you.
Can a non-owner captain run charters on someone else's boat?
Yes, if the owner actually puts you in command, the vessel fits the uninspected passenger vessel definition, your OUPV route covers the water, and insurance names the operation. Get that in writing. A handshake plus Instagram is not a charter agreement. If the owner still directs the trips, you may not be the operator you think you are.
What happens if you go over six passengers?
On a vessel under 100 gross tons, more than six passengers generally takes you out of the uninspected six-pack definition in 46 U.S.C. 2101. You are looking at inspected small-passenger-vessel rules and a different manning picture. Do not treat the seventh paying guest as a freebie. Sell six seats or change the vessel's inspection status.
Do you need a physical every time you renew the MMC?
You need a valid medical certificate to work under officer authority. Medical certificates expire on a shorter cycle than the five-year MMC under 46 CFR 10.301. Renewal of the MMC and renewal of the medical certificate are related, not identical. Confirm the current medical term and forms with NMC when your date gets close.
Is a bareboat charter the same as a six-pack trip?
No. On a six-pack trip you are the credentialed operator carrying passengers for hire. On a true bareboat, the charterer gets possession and control and is not required to take you as captain. If you still run the trip, take the money, and advertise yourself as captain, you are not in bareboat facts. Keep the two files separate.
Sources
- eCFR 46 CFR 11.467 Operator of uninspected passenger vessels: Inland OUPV requires 360 days of vessel service; near-coastal requires 360 days including 90 on ocean or near-coastal waters; OUPV is limited to UPVs of less than 100 GRT.
- U.S. Code 46 U.S.C. 8903 Uninspected passenger vessels: A licensed individual shall be in command of an uninspected passenger vessel.
- U.S. Code 46 U.S.C. 2101 Definitions: Uninspected passenger vessels under 100 gross tons are capped at 6 passengers including at least one passenger for hire; passenger for hire means consideration as a condition of carriage.
- eCFR 46 CFR 11.201 General requirements for national and STCW officer endorsements: OUPV applicants must be at least 18; original officer packages include recency of service and first aid/CPR evidence.
- eCFR 46 CFR 15.605 Credentialed operators for uninspected passenger vessels: Each uninspected passenger vessel must be under the direction and control of a Coast Guard-credentialed individual.
- eCFR 46 CFR 10.209 General application procedures: MMC applications follow Coast Guard general application procedures, including TWIC-related identity requirements.
- eCFR 46 CFR 10.219 Fees: Coast Guard charges user fees for merchant mariner credential evaluation and issuance services.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center Fees: Current MMC user fee amounts must be confirmed on the National Maritime Center fees page.
- eCFR 46 CFR 16.220 Periodic testing requirements: Mariner chemical testing rules, including periodic testing, sit in 46 CFR part 16 and apply to credentialed mariners.
- eCFR 46 CFR 10.301 Merchant mariner medical certificates: The Coast Guard issues medical certificates to mariners who meet medical and physical standards; officer medical certificates expire on a shorter cycle than the MMC.
- eCFR 46 CFR 10.232 Sea service: Qualifying sea service must be documented under Coast Guard sea service rules, including small-vessel forms such as CG-719S.
- Transportation Security Administration TWIC program: TWIC enrollment, card issuance, and TWIC fees are administered through TSA's Transportation Worker Identification Credential program.
- eCFR 46 CFR 10.227 Requirements for renewal: Merchant mariner credentials are renewed on a five-year cycle under Coast Guard renewal rules.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center Training: NMC maintains the list of Coast Guard-approved courses that may be used in place of examination for officer endorsements such as OUPV.