Last updated 2026-08-19
TL;DR
Arkansas does not run a six-pack captain board. The U.S. Coast Guard issues the OUPV merchant mariner credential, the six-pack license, to carry up to six paying passengers. You need 360 days of sea service, federal fees under 46 CFR 10.219, a TWIC, a physical, and a drug test. Confirm current NMC fees and timing. State lake and guide rules can stack on top.
Do you need a license for six-pack captain in Arkansas?
Yes, if you carry passengers for hire on waters where Coast Guard manning rules apply. Arkansas does not issue that license. The Coast Guard does. The six-pack is an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels endorsement on a Merchant Mariner Credential. It is built for a vessel under 100 gross tons carrying not more than six passengers for hire.[3]
Federal law is blunt. 46 U.S.C. 8903 says: "An uninspected passenger vessel shall be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel in that particular geographic area."[1]
46 CFR 15.605 puts the same duty on the vessel. It must be operated by someone holding a license or MMC endorsed as operator of uninspected passenger vessels.[2]
If you only run your own boat with friends and nobody pays, you do not need an OUPV. The minute someone pays to be a passenger, you are in for-hire territory. Tips, memberships, suggested donations, and split-the-gas stories get people boarded. If it looks like compensation, treat it as for hire.
Does every puddle in Arkansas count? No. Title 46 attaches to uninspected passenger vessels on waters the Coast Guard actually regulates. The Arkansas River, the Mississippi, and most Corps reservoirs are not a clever loophole. A private stock pond can be a different fact pattern. I would not bet a charter business on a gray waterbody without asking the Coast Guard and, if the dollars are real, a maritime lawyer. This site is not a law firm.
A state boater-education card is not a captain license. An AGFC fishing guide permit is not a captain license either. Those can sit on top of the federal ticket. They do not replace it.
Six means six. A seventh paying passenger is not a rounding error. It is a different vessel category, and the six-pack does not cover it.
Is there a six-pack captain board in Arkansas?
No. There is no Arkansas board that prints six-pack tickets.
People search six-pack captain Arkansas board because other trades have a state board. Hair has one. Contractors have one. Captains carrying six or fewer passengers for hire do not. The issuing authority is the U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center.[7]
You still talk to Arkansas agencies for other pieces. Boat numbering. Maybe a fishing guide license if you sell guided angling. Maybe a Corps of Engineers commercial activity permit on a reservoir.[10] None of those offices evaluate sea service. None of them print an OUPV.
If a school or a Facebook ad says they will get you licensed with the state of Arkansas, walk away. That is a national myth with a local zip code.
The federal board does not change when you compare six-pack captain board in Alabama or six-pack captain board in Florida. Your Arkansas driver's license does not move the stamp from Martinsburg to Little Rock.
Who actually issues the six-pack license if you live in Arkansas?
The U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center issues the MMC. You apply to the Coast Guard. You do not apply to AGFC for the six-pack, and you do not apply to a state captain board that does not exist.
Exams happen at Regional Exam Centers and other Coast Guard-approved sites. Which chair you sit in changes. Confirm the current list with NMC instead of a 2019 forum thread.[7]
Your physical address in Arkansas does not make this a state license. The credential is national. Endorsements are limited by route (inland, Great Lakes, near-coastal) and by tonnage. They are not limited by the state on your tax return.
NMC also runs medical evaluation for the medical certificate that has to travel with the MMC.[12] That desk is federal too.
If you already hold an MMC you earned while living somewhere else, you do not start over because you moved to Benton or Jonesboro. You keep the same federal file. You still pick up any Arkansas or Corps extras that attach to the water you now work.
How much does six-pack captain cost in Arkansas?
There is no Arkansas six-pack fee. Your government costs are federal.
46 CFR 10.219 lists original officer MMC fees at $100 for evaluation, $110 for examination, and $45 for issuance.[5] That is $255 if you need all three line items on the Coast Guard exam path. Confirm the live table on the NMC fees page before you pay, because the Code can be amended.[8]
TWIC is separate. TSA sets that price. Confirm it on TSA's TWIC page the week you enroll.[9]
Then you have market costs the Code does not fix. A CG-719K physical is whatever your clinician charges. A Coast Guard chemical test under 46 CFR part 16 is whatever the collection site or consortium charges.[13] An OUPV course can be a few hundred dollars or a lot more. Some people self-study and sit the exam. Some people fail that plan and then pay for a course anyway.
I would not buy a state package that inflates the price because you live in Arkansas. The Coast Guard does not add a state surcharge.
If you want paper checklists in one place, OUPVPath sells a $149 one-time USCG OUPV + Bareboat Kit. You can also download the forms free from NMC and skip the kit. Do that if you already know the file order.
Waste of money: a framed captain certificate from a weekend marketing class that is not Coast Guard approved. Decorative. Not an MMC.
| Cost item | Who sets it | Figure to use |
|---|---|---|
| MMC evaluation | 46 CFR 10.219 | $100, confirm NMC |
| MMC examination | 46 CFR 10.219 | $110, confirm NMC |
| MMC issuance | 46 CFR 10.219 | $45, confirm NMC |
| TWIC | TSA | confirm TSA |
| CG-719K physical | clinic market | clinic quote |
| Part 16 drug test | clinic or consortium | site quote |
| OUPV course | school market | school quote |
| Arkansas board fee | does not exist | $0 |
The same NMC line items show up in Six-pack captain cost in Connecticut: the full fee breakdown. The regulation is national.
How long does six-pack captain take in Arkansas?
The long pole is sea time. 46 CFR 11.467 requires 360 days of service for the OUPV endorsement.[4] That is not a weekend. If you are starting from almost no logged time, plan in seasons, not in shopping-cart checkouts.
If you already have 360 honest days, the rest is appointment time. Physical. Drug test. TWIC enrollment and card production. First aid and CPR. Study. Exam or an approved course. Then NMC evaluation.
How long NMC takes is not a number I will invent for you. The Coast Guard posts current processing times. Read that page the week you apply.[7] Times move. Nobody should promise you a date. I will not either. No approval guarantee.
An approved OUPV course can replace the Coast Guard exam sitting, but it does not replace the application. You still wait in the NMC queue after the school prints its completion paper.
People with clean marina or guide logs sometimes finish the paper phase in a few months. People who reconstruct five years of fuzzy weekends on a spreadsheet often stall. The delay is usually the file, not Arkansas.
What sea time does the Coast Guard require for an Arkansas six-pack?
360 days. That number lives in 46 CFR 11.467.[4]
You also need recency. 46 CFR 11.201 requires at least 90 days of qualifying service in the 3 years before the application.[6]
A service day is not a vibe. 46 CFR 10.107 defines a day, for these service rules, as "8 hours of watchstanding or day-working not to include overtime."[14] On some vessels a 12-hour working day can credit as one and a half days. Read the definition before you multiply a summer into a career.
Inland OUPV service can be on any waters under the inland path in 11.467. Near-coastal wants ocean or near-coastal time. If your book is the White River, Lake Ouachita, and Greers Ferry, inland is the endorsement that matches the log. Do not pay extra for near-coastal you cannot prove.
Small boats count. The six-pack world is full of center consoles, jon boats, and pontoons. You do not need tanker watches.
I would keep a bound log or one consistent digital log with dates, waters, vessel identifiers, length or horsepower, and duties. Get a verifier signature while that person still remembers you. Family pontoon Sundays can count if they are real and signed. Fantasy spreadsheets do not.
NMC will ask who can stand behind the time. Pick verifiers who were actually there.
What papers does the Coast Guard want in the application?
NMC publishes checklists. Use the current OUPV or officer checklist, not a blog screenshot from three computers ago.[7]
The usual pile is boring and specific. Form CG-719B (application). Form CG-719K (medical). Evidence of a chemical test that meets 46 CFR part 16.[13] TWIC.[9] Proof of identity and U.S. citizenship for an officer endorsement (46 CFR 10.221 is the citizenship rule to read). Sea service letters or small-vessel sea service form CG-719S. First aid and CPR cards that meet 46 CFR 11.201 timing.[6] Exam results or an approved course completion. The evaluation, exam, and issuance fees in 46 CFR 10.219.[5]
Medical is a gate. A sports physical is not a CG-719K. Use a clinician who has filled that form. NMC's medical certificate pages explain what happens after the doctor signs.[12]
Drug tests have to meet Coast Guard chemical testing rules. 46 CFR 16.210 covers pre-employment testing. A cheap non-DOT box from a pharmacy is not the same product.[13]
First aid and CPR certificates generally need to be dated within one year of the application under 46 CFR 11.201.[6] Do not use a card from a forgotten workplace class in 2018.
Age floor for an officer endorsement is 18 under that same section. If you are 17, you wait.
Keep copies of every page you send. NMC files get messy. Yours should not.
Do Arkansas state boating rules still apply after you get the OUPV?
Yes. The MMC does not erase state operating rules, registration, or education requirements. AGFC runs the state's recreational boating program. Confirm operator-education and numbering rules with AGFC before you assume the federal ticket covers a hole.
If you also take people fishing for pay, ask AGFC whether a fishing guide license applies to your trip structure. That is a wildlife license question. It is not an NMC question. Plenty of Arkansas six-pack work is fishing. Plenty of fishing-guide work still needs the federal manning credential if passengers are paying to be on a vessel the Coast Guard treats as an uninspected passenger vessel.
PFDs, BUI rules, and night lighting still apply. A six-pack is not a waiver.
Local marina contracts still apply. So do lock rules on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. The license lets you be the operator of that six-pack vessel. It does not make you the harbor master.
Do you need extra permits on Arkansas lakes and rivers?
Often, yes, if you are selling a trip on a Corps lake.
On U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project land and water, commercial activity needs written authorization. 36 CFR 327.18 prohibits commercial activities unless the District Commander authorizes them in writing.[10] That is the rule I would start from at Bull Shoals, Norfork, Greers Ferry, Ouachita, Millwood, and the other Corps reservoirs that actually draw charter traffic in Arkansas.
Call the project office. Ask what commercial use authorization they want for a six-passenger for-hire boat. Do not take my buddy never got a permit as a legal theory.
State parks, city ramps, and private marinas can add slip and business rules. Those are contracts and local ordinances, not a substitute MMC and not a substitute Corps permit.
The river system has lock schedules and inland navigation reality. Your inland OUPV is the manning piece. It is not a dock lease and it is not a tour-boat franchise.
Should an Arkansas captain get inland or near-coastal OUPV?
Most Arkansas six-pack work is inland. Rivers. Highland reservoirs. The inland endorsement matches that water and that log.
Near-coastal is for people who can prove ocean or near-coastal service and who will actually use the route. Living in Arkansas does not block near-coastal. Missing ocean days does.
Read 46 CFR 11.467 and the wording on the endorsement before you advertise a Gulf trip from a Jonesboro mailbox.[4] If your sea time is all freshwater inland, you will not magically receive near-coastal.
If you later move the business to the coast, you upgrade when the service is real. Pay for the route you can document.
You will see the same split in six-pack captain board in Georgia and six-pack captain board in California. The water in the log sets the route. The mailbox does not.
What happens if you carry paying passengers in Arkansas without an MMC?
You can get boarded. You can get a civil penalty case. You can lose a marina slip or a Corps permit. Your insurer will not enjoy the claim file.
46 U.S.C. 8906 says: "A person violating this chapter or a regulation prescribed under this chapter is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not more than $5,000."[15] Later inflation-adjustment tables can raise the dollars actually assessed. Confirm the current civil penalty figure with the Coast Guard if you are staring at an enforcement letter. Do not treat the 1990s statute number as a coupon.
I only do it on weekends is not an exception in 8903.[1]
Carrying seven paying passengers on a six-pack ticket is the same family of problem. The definition in 46 U.S.C. 2101 is not more than six on the uninspected passenger vessel under 100 gross tons.[3]
If you are still building sea time, do not sell charters while you wait. Log time legally. File when the book is honest.
How do you keep a six-pack license after you get it?
MMCs run on a five-year cycle. Renewal is 46 CFR 10.227.[11]
You will see another medical workup, more chemical testing rules, and recency of service. Do not let the card expire and then act surprised. An expired credential means you are not sailing as an OUPV until NMC puts you back in issue status.
Track the expiration the week you get the card. Put it on a calendar you actually look at.
If you raise tonnage or add a route later, that is a new evaluation. It is not a sticker from Arkansas.
Keep the physical copies and the PDFs. When a boarding officer or a marina asks, you want the current MMC and medical certificate in hand, not a story about a printer in 2022.
What should you skip, and what should you actually pay for?
Pay for a clean CG-719K physical and a real part 16 drug test. Pay the NMC fees in 46 CFR 10.219.[5] Pay TSA for the TWIC.[9] Pay for an approved course if you are a weak self-tester. Skip anyone selling an Arkansas captain license. Skip near-coastal add-ons you cannot document. Skip radar observer unless you actually want radar on a bigger path later.
Other states do not make the federal stack cheaper. six-pack captain board in Illinois uses the same NMC fees. So does six-pack captain board in Colorado.
Confirm every variable fee and every processing estimate with NMC the week you file. No approval guarantee. No timing guarantee.
If you want the forms and a paper path in one bundle, the OUPVPath $149 USCG OUPV + Bareboat Kit is at /start. OUPVPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company. Pull free forms from NMC if you already know the order.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for six-pack captain in Arkansas?
Yes, if you carry passengers for hire on waters under Coast Guard manning rules. Arkansas does not issue a six-pack license. The U.S. Coast Guard issues the OUPV endorsement on a Merchant Mariner Credential. A state boater card or an AGFC guide permit does not replace it. Confirm jurisdiction on your waterbody with the Coast Guard if you think you are outside Title 46.
How much does six-pack captain cost in Arkansas?
There is no state six-pack fee. 46 CFR 10.219 lists original officer MMC fees at $100 evaluation, $110 examination, and $45 issuance. Confirm those figures on the NMC fees page before you pay. Add TSA's current TWIC fee, a CG-719K physical, a part 16 drug test, and any course you choose. Market prices vary. Nobody should quote you a single locked total.
How long does six-pack captain take in Arkansas?
Sea time is the long pole. 46 CFR 11.467 requires 360 days of service. If that time is already logged, you still need appointments for the physical, drug test, TWIC, first aid and CPR, and either an exam or an approved course. NMC then evaluates the file. Check NMC's processing times page the week you apply. Nobody should promise you a date.
Does Arkansas issue an OUPV or six-pack captain license?
No. There is no Arkansas six-pack captain board. The National Maritime Center issues the Merchant Mariner Credential. AGFC and Corps project offices can add state or lake requirements. They do not evaluate sea service and they do not print the OUPV endorsement. Treat any ad that says otherwise as a myth.
Can I run paid trips on Lake Ouachita with only a state boating card?
A state boating-education card is not a six-pack. If the trip is passengers for hire on waters under Coast Guard rules, you need the OUPV MMC. Corps lakes also restrict commercial activity unless the District Commander authorizes it in writing under 36 CFR 327.18. Confirm both the manning piece and the project permit before you take money.
Is an AGFC fishing guide license the same as a six-pack?
No. A fishing guide license, if AGFC requires one for your trip, is a wildlife and guiding credential. The six-pack is a Coast Guard manning credential for carrying passengers for hire. Many Arkansas operators need to ask about both. One office does not speak for the other. Confirm current guide rules with AGFC and manning rules with NMC.
Do I need a TWIC if I only run inland Arkansas reservoirs?
Plan on it. The Coast Guard ties MMC issuance to TWIC for credentialed mariners. Inland work in a landlocked county does not create a special Arkansas waiver. Enroll through TSA, confirm the current fee on TSA's TWIC page, and put the card in the application file. Do not wait until NMC asks and then stall the whole packet.
Does lake time in a pontoon or jon boat count toward 360 days?
It can, if it is real operation of a vessel and you can document it. Six-pack sea time is not reserved for steel ships. 46 CFR 10.107 treats a day as 8 hours of watchstanding or day-working, not overtime. Get dates, waters, vessel details, duties, and a verifier. NMC can reject thin or invented logs. Keep the book honest.
Can I carry seven passengers if the boat is big enough?
Not on an OUPV six-pack. 46 U.S.C. 2101 defines the uninspected passenger vessel path as not more than six passengers on a vessel under 100 gross tons. A seventh paying passenger is a different regulatory world. Length of the boat does not rewrite that six-person cap. Do not sell the seventh seat.
Which Regional Exam Center do Arkansas applicants use?
That assignment changes, and I will not lock a city for you. NMC publishes Regional Exam Centers and approved exam sites. Confirm the current list when you are ready to sit. An approved OUPV course can replace the Coast Guard exam sitting, but you still apply to NMC. Do not trust a stale Facebook answer for the address.
I already have an MMC from another state. Do I start over in Arkansas?
No. The MMC is federal. Moving to Arkansas does not create a new state captain license and does not wipe the credential. You still pick up any AGFC or Corps extras that attach to the water you now work. Renewal still runs under 46 CFR 10.227 on the five-year cycle. Keep the card and medical certificate current.
Are online OUPV courses accepted for an Arkansas applicant?
Only if the Coast Guard has approved that course for the OUPV endorsement you want. Approval is a Coast Guard decision, not an Arkansas board decision. An unapproved internet certificate is a wall decoration. Check the school's Coast Guard approval, then still file the full NMC application. The course does not skip sea time, TWIC, or the physical.
Sources
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 8903: An uninspected passenger vessel must be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary for that type of vessel and geographic area.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 15.605: Uninspected passenger vessels must be operated by a person holding a license or MMC endorsed as OUPV.
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 2101: Federal definitions cover uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 gross tons carrying not more than 6 passengers.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 11.467: An OUPV endorsement requires 360 days of service, with route rules for inland versus near-coastal.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.219: Original officer MMC fees are listed at $100 evaluation, $110 examination, and $45 issuance.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 11.201: Officer endorsements require age 18, 90 days of recency in 3 years, and first aid and CPR timing rules.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Processing Times: NMC publishes current MMC processing times that applicants must confirm when they file.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Fees: NMC posts the live merchant mariner credential fee table that may be updated after the CFR text.
- Transportation Security Administration, TWIC program page: TSA administers TWIC enrollment and publishes the current TWIC fee that MMC applicants must confirm.
- eCFR, 36 CFR § 327.18: Commercial activities on Corps project land or water need written authorization from the District Commander.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.227: MMC renewal rules sit in 46 CFR 10.227 on the credential's five-year cycle.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Medical Certificates: NMC evaluates merchant mariner medical certificates, including the CG-719K physical package.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 16.210: Coast Guard pre-employment chemical testing rules apply to mariners required to hold an MMC.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.107: For service credit, a day means 8 hours of watchstanding or day-working, not overtime.
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 8906: Violating chapter 89 or its regulations creates civil penalty liability of not more than $5,000 under the statute.