Last updated 2026-08-18
TL;DR
Alaska issues no six-pack captain license. Paid trips of six or fewer passengers on an uninspected boat need a U.S. Coast Guard OUPV credential, 360 days of sea time, a medical certificate, TWIC, and a drug test. A state business license applies if you take pay. Fishing charters add ADF&G guide paper. Confirm fees with the National Maritime Center.
Do you need a license for six-pack captain in Alaska?
Yes, if people pay you and you carry six or fewer passengers on an uninspected vessel. The ticket is a U.S. Coast Guard Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels Merchant Mariner Credential. Alaska sells no substitute state captain license. A private trip with friends and no hire is a different fact pattern.
Federal statute 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, under prescribed regulations." [1] The Coast Guard repeats the duty in 46 CFR 15.605: "Each uninspected passenger vessel must be under the direction and control of an individual credentialed by the Coast Guard under this subchapter as follows." [4]
Six-pack is slang. It is not printed on the card. The legal box is an uninspected passenger vessel of less than 100 gross tons carrying not more than six passengers, as defined in 46 U.S.C. § 2101. [5] If money changes hands for the ride, treat it as for-hire. I would. Split-fuel stories get people in trouble when the skipper is clearly selling a trip.
You still need Alaska paper if you run a business. That is not a captain license. AS 43.70.020 requires a person engaging in a business in the state to apply, pay the fee, and obtain a valid license. [6] Fishing charters add ADF&G sport fishing guide registration. [8] Park waters can add a commercial use authorization. None of that replaces the USCG card.
If you only boat for yourself, you do not need an OUPV. State boater education cards are a smaller, separate recreational rule. They do not authorize passenger-for-hire work. People searching six-pack captain alaska usually mix those piles. Keep them apart.
The same MMC is what you would hold in any other state. The extras change. The federal operator rule does not.
How much does six-pack captain cost in Alaska?
The Coast Guard piece is a published federal fee table, not an Alaska price. 46 CFR 10.219 lists original officer endorsement fees of $100 for evaluation, $110 for examination, and $45 for issuance. [3] Confirm those amounts on the National Maritime Center fees page before you pay, because the table can be amended. [13]
That is not your real bill.
You also pay TSA for a TWIC, a clinician for Form CG-719K, a chemical test that fits 46 CFR part 16, first aid and CPR cards, and either an approved OUPV course or travel to sit the Coast Guard exam. [9] [10] [14] Those are private-market prices. Nobody publishes a clean public dataset for Alaska clinic or school rates. Budget a few hundred dollars for the medical and drug screen, and several hundred more for a course if you take one. Anyone quoting one official Alaska six-pack package price is selling a bundle, not reading a statute.
If you take pay, add the Alaska business license. DCCED publishes the two-year fee on its business licensing pages. Confirm the current amount there. [7] Fishing guide paper is a separate ADF&G schedule that changes. Check the sport fishing guide page for the year you will work. [8]
Insurance is the sleeper. It is not a license. It is what keeps one bad day in a tide rip from ending the business. Get quotes from marine insurers who actually write six-pack risk in Alaska.
Waste of money: novelty captain certificates, radar plaques you will not use, and paying someone to retype CG-719B when the NMC checklist is already public. [15]
| Cost piece | Who sets it | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| USCG evaluation, exam, issuance | 46 CFR 10.219 and NMC | Confirm the live table before payment |
| TWIC | TSA | Confirm the TWIC program fee |
| CG-719K medical exam | Private clinician | Market rate, no official Alaska price |
| State business license | DCCED | Confirm the two-year fee |
| Sport fishing guide paper | ADF&G | Confirm that year's schedule |
How long does six-pack captain take in Alaska?
Sea time is the clock. 46 CFR 11.467 requires 360 days of service for an OUPV. Near-coastal also needs 90 of those days on ocean or near-coastal waters. [2] A Coast Guard sea service day is not a calendar day on the slip. If the boat sat, you do not count it. If you do not have the days, nothing else matters.
That bank of days can take one heavy season or several summers. Nobody has good public data on how long Alaskans actually take to collect 360 honest days. The closest official number is the 360-day threshold itself in 11.467, not a completion study. [2]
If the days are already in signed letters, the rest is appointments and evaluation. An approved course is often one to two weeks of class plus the school exam. Medical, TWIC, and the drug test follow clinic and enrollment-center calendars. Rural Alaska travel to a TWIC site can add a week you did not plan.
NMC processing time is not a promise. The Center posts workload figures. Read those the week you file. I will not invent a day count, and you should not quit a job on a school's this-month pitch unless the sea service letters are already signed.
Recency rules live in 46 CFR 11.201. Old time still needs a recent slice so the evaluator believes you remember the job. [12] Read the current text. Do not trust a forum post from 2014.
What is a six-pack captain license, exactly?
It is a Merchant Mariner Credential with an officer endorsement as Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels. The plastic comes from the U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, not Juneau. Routes are usually Inland or Near Coastal. Horsepower is typically unlimited on the OUPV. Tonnage is under 100 GRT. The passenger cap is six. [5]
People mix this up with Master 25, 50, or 100 GRT. Those are different endorsements. If you go over six passengers, you also leave the uninspected box and need an inspected vessel with a Certificate of Inspection. A six-pack boat is uninspected. That word means no COI for passenger service. Safety gear, navigation rules, and pollution rules still apply.
The card is national. An OUPV issued after a class in another state is valid on Alaska waters within the route printed on the credential. Local knowledge is on you. Ice, williwaws, and a minus tide on a gravel bar are not a separate license. They will still ruin the trip.
For the first-year operations sequence after the card arrives, use how to start six-pack captain in Alaska. That path is business paper and harbor reality, not another exam.
Is the Alaska six-pack ticket state or federal?
Federal. Full stop. The state does not examine captains for six-passenger for-hire work. Alaska regulates the business, the fish, and some local harbors. The Coast Guard regulates the operator credential and the vessel category. [1] [4]
That split is why people get surprised. You can hold a clean MMC and still get stopped for a sport fishing guide business without ADF&G paper. [8] You can hold every state stamp and still be illegal if you take six paying hikers without an OUPV.
Compare the extras, not the card. A six-pack captain license in California is the same MMC with different harbor, tax, and fish overlays. So is a six-pack captain license in Alabama or a six-pack captain license in Arizona. The operator rule is 46 U.S.C. § 8903 everywhere it applies. [1]
Get the federal credential first if the sea time is real, then layer Alaska business and guide paper. Doing it backwards wastes renewal cycles on a business you cannot legally skipper.
How much sea time do you need for an Alaska OUPV?
360 days. 46 CFR 11.467 requires 360 days of service for an original OUPV endorsement. Near-coastal needs 90 days of that service on ocean or near-coastal waters. [2]
What counts is underway service you can prove. Use CG-719S or letters on letterhead with the vessel name, official number, dates, tonnage, waters, your duties, and a signature someone can call. Deck time on a family cruiser can count if it is honest and detailed. Fabricated letters are a great way to lose the file.
Start the log now. One page per vessel. Keep the official number, a photo of the hull, and a boring spreadsheet. When you ask a skipper to sign, hand them a completed draft. Do not make them invent dates from memory in March.
Military records can count. So can some tender, towing, and commercial fishing time. You still have to map duties to the OUPV standard. NMC decides, not the cannery office and not your cousin.
Owner-operator time on your own skiff is the weakest letter if it is only you writing to yourself. Corroboration helps. Marina records, a second signature, and consistent dates beat a poetic sea story.
Inland or near-coastal: which Alaska waters need which ticket?
If you will leave tightly protected waters, get Near Coastal. An inland-only OUPV is the wrong tool for most paid trips out of Seward, Homer, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Juneau. Near-coastal OUPV is limited to not more than 100 miles offshore, which covers almost every six-pack product in the state. [2]
Inland can make sense for some river or enclosed lake work. Most Alaska charter water is not that. Crossing Resurrection Bay or running Stephens Passage is not an inland fantasy.
You can hold Near Coastal and still work inland waters. The reverse is not true. Pay the 90 ocean or near-coastal days and take Near Coastal if you have any doubt. [2]
| Route on the MMC | Sea time rule | Typical Alaska use |
|---|---|---|
| Inland OUPV | 360 days on any waters | Limited enclosed waters only |
| Near Coastal OUPV | 360 days, including 90 on ocean or near-coastal | Most paid coastal trips, not more than 100 miles offshore |
Great Lakes and Western Rivers routes do not solve Alaska. Do not buy that class by accident.
What other Alaska paper do you need if you take paying passengers?
AS 43.70.020 requires a person engaging in a business in the state to apply, with the appropriate fee, and obtain a valid license. [6] That is the state business license. Confirm the current two-year fee on the DCCED business licensing pages. [7] It is cheap next to insurance. It is also the document people forget until a clerk asks.
Fishing is a second stack. If clients wet a line, read ADF&G's sport fishing guide pages and get what that year requires. [8] Guide registration, logbooks, and client licenses are their world. Do not guess from a harbor rumor.
Municipal harbor permits, sales tax accounts, and borough licenses depend on where you tie up. Anchorage, Juneau, and Ketchikan are not the same pile. Call the harbormaster and the borough clerk. Get the answer in writing.
Park and refuge waters add commercial use authorizations. Glacier Bay has vessel rules that an MMC does not open. Check those before you advertise the postcard trip.
If you want a paper map of the federal forms, OUPVPath sells a $149 one-time USCG OUPV + Bareboat Kit at /start. It is a publisher kit, not a filing service and not a school. The statutes do not care which binder you use.
For how that stack looks once you are actually booking days, stay with how to start six-pack captain in Alaska rather than another state's startup guide.
How do you actually apply for the USCG OUPV from Alaska?
You file with the Coast Guard, not the State of Alaska. Use the National Maritime Center process, the CG-719 series forms, and the current NMC checklists. [15] There is no Juneau cover sheet that speeds this up.
The packet typically includes the application, sea service evidence, the CG-719K medical, a chemical test that fits part 16, TWIC information, first aid and CPR cards, citizenship evidence, fees, and (if you went that way) an approved course completion. [10] [11] [12] [14] An approved course exam can stand in for the Coast Guard exam. Confirm the school is still on the NMC approved list the week you enroll.
NMC evaluates. They issue or they bounce you with a letter. Read the letter. Fix the one defect they named. Do not resubmit a new theory of your career.
From rural Alaska the hard appointment is often TWIC enrollment, not the PDF forms. Travel to an open enrollment center can cost more than the $100 evaluation fee. [3] [9] Schedule it early.
Citizenship and identity rules sit in the MMC regulations, including 46 CFR 10.203 on TWIC. [11] Officer endorsements are not a casual alien work-around. Read the current citizenship section before you pay anyone.
The application path in how to start six-pack captain in California is the same federal forms with different local extras. Steal the form discipline, not the harbor advice.
What medical exam, drug test, and TWIC does NMC want?
NMC will not issue the MMC without a medical certificate built on a CG-719K exam. [10] Use a clinician who has filled that form. Vision, hearing, medications, and diagnoses all land on the page. Color vision matters. If you have a condition, the medical branch has a process. Hiding it is worse.
TWIC is a TSA credential. 46 CFR 10.203 ties the Merchant Mariner Credential to TWIC. [11] Enroll through TSA's TWIC program and confirm the current fee on that page. [9] Prints take time. Do this before you obsess over the evaluation check.
Original applications need a chemical test that fits 46 CFR part 16. [14] A leftover test from some other job may not fit. Ask the collection site if they know Coast Guard original MMC work. Get the result into the packet in the form NMC expects.
Failed tests and undisclosed convictions are how files die. The Coast Guard looks at safety and character. I am not your lawyer. If you have a record, read NMC guidance on convictions and alcohol before you pay a school.
Should you take an approved course or the Coast Guard exam?
Take an approved OUPV course for a first credential. The Coast Guard exam is a poor place to learn how the question bank thinks. A currently approved course lets the school exam stand in. Confirm the provider on the NMC list the week you pay. Schools lose approval.
Self-study plus the exam can work if you already hold other deck paper and like charts. For a first card, the course is the less painful path. It is still not cheap. Compare two schools. Ignore the one that promises NMC will approve you. NMC approves credentials. Schools sell seats.
Rules of the road, navigation, deck general, and safety are the usual blocks. Alaska ice and hypothermia are real even when the national questions are generic. Study the national material. Then boat like you live here.
If you want another state's extra-paper overlay after the same federal course, six-pack captain license in Colorado is the same MMC with a very different shoreline.
What a six-pack license does not let you do in Alaska
You cannot legally carry seven paying passengers on that uninspected boat. Six is the statute cap in the uninspected passenger vessel definition. [5] You cannot run an inspected small passenger vessel on an OUPV alone. That needs the right Master endorsement and a COI vessel.
You cannot skip the MMC because the trip is lodging plus a skiff. If they paid and you operate the passenger vessel, you are in 46 U.S.C. § 8903 territory. [1]
Bareboat charter is a different legal shape. The charterer takes operational control. If you stay onboard and run the boat, you are probably not in a true bareboat. Do not play word games with that. Investigators have seen the script.
OUPV is not a fishing license, a hunting guide license, or a seaplane rating. Keep those lanes clean. Night, fog, and ice do not shrink the credential. They raise the judgment required to use it.
How do OUPV renewal and upgrades work after you have the card?
OUPV credentials renew on the Coast Guard cycle, not an Alaska anniversary. You will need a current medical path, fees, and the renewal checklist. [10] [15] 46 CFR 10.219 has a separate renewal row with lower evaluation and examination amounts than original. Confirm the live table and the NMC fees page. [3] [13]
Sea service for renewal is not another 360-day original climb. Read the current renewal checklist. If you let the credential lapse, reinstatement is its own mess. Set a reminder a year out, not a month out.
If the business grows past six passengers, you are in Master-endorsement and inspected-vessel country. That is a year-scale project. It is not a weekend upgrade.
For a renewal walkthrough of the same federal clock with different state extras, see Six-pack captain renewal in California.
OUPVPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a Coast Guard contractor. If you want the kit, it is at /start. The National Maritime Center still decides your file. No article can promise approval or timing.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for six-pack captain in Alaska?
Yes, for paid trips of six or fewer passengers on an uninspected vessel. The license is a U.S. Coast Guard OUPV Merchant Mariner Credential. Alaska does not issue a substitute captain ticket. A state business license and ADF&G guide paper can also apply, but they do not replace the MMC. Private unpaid trips are a different case.
How much does six-pack captain cost in Alaska?
46 CFR 10.219 lists original officer fees of $100 evaluation, $110 examination, and $45 issuance. Confirm those on the NMC fees page. Add TWIC, a CG-719K exam, a chemical test, first aid cards, and usually a private course. Alaska business-license and ADF&G guide fees are separate published schedules. Confirm each before you pay.
How long does six-pack captain take in Alaska?
The long item is 360 days of documented sea time under 46 CFR 11.467. If those days already exist, a course can take one to two weeks and NMC evaluation follows posted workload, which is not a promise. Medical and TWIC appointments add calendar time, especially if you must travel to an enrollment center. Confirm current NMC processing figures when you file.
Can I run Alaska charters with only a state boater education card?
No. A recreational boater card does not authorize passenger-for-hire work. 46 U.S.C. § 8903 requires a licensed operator on an uninspected passenger vessel. The state card and the MMC solve different problems. Use the state card for recreational rules if it applies to you. Use the OUPV when people pay.
Does an OUPV issued in another state work in Alaska?
Yes. The Merchant Mariner Credential is federal. The route and tonnage on the card control, not the state where you sat the class. You still need Alaska business, tax, harbor, and ADF&G paper when the work requires it. Local knowledge is still your problem.
Do I need an inspected Coast Guard vessel for six paying passengers?
No. Six or fewer paying passengers on an uninspected vessel under 100 gross tons is the six-pack design in 46 U.S.C. § 2101. Seven paying passengers pushes you toward inspected small passenger vessel rules and a different endorsement. Do not treat a seventh paying seat as a rounding error.
Does Alaska require a fishing guide license on top of the OUPV?
If clients will fish, read ADF&G sport fishing guide requirements for that year and get what they require. Guide registration does not replace the Coast Guard credential, and the OUPV does not replace guide paper. Confirm fees and forms on the ADF&G sport fishing guide page before you advertise fishing.
Can I use an inland-only OUPV out of Seward or Homer?
Plan on no for the trips people actually sell. Near-coastal is the endorsement that matches most Alaska coastal charter water, with a limit of not more than 100 miles offshore. Inland is for enclosed waters as the Coast Guard defines them. If you have any doubt, earn the 90 ocean or near-coastal days and take Near Coastal.
How old do you have to be for an OUPV?
Plan on 18. Officer endorsement age sits in the general rules in 46 CFR 11.201. Confirm the current age line in that section before you pay a school for a minor. Citizenship and identity rules are separate and also live in the MMC regulations. Read them before you file.
Is a TWIC required if I never enter a big industrial terminal?
For the MMC, yes. 46 CFR 10.203 ties issuance of the credential to TWIC. Harbor access is a different use of the same card. Enroll through TSA, confirm the current fee on the TWIC program page, and do it early because rural Alaska appointments are thin.
What if my sea time is on a seiner, tender, or my own skiff?
It can count if the letters prove vessel, dates, waters, and duties. NMC evaluates the evidence, not the skipper who liked you. Owner-operator letters need corroboration. Fishing and tender time is not automatically disqualified. Write boring, checkable letters that match the NMC checklist.
Do I need radar observer or towing endorsements for a basic Alaska six-pack?
Not as default OUPV boxes. If you install radar or tow for hire, get real training for that work. Buy a useful radar class before another decorative certificate. Add endorsements when the job needs them, not because a school upsold a bundle.
Sources
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 8903: An uninspected passenger vessel shall be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel, under prescribed regulations.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 11.467 Requirements for national endorsements as operator of uninspected passenger vessels: Original OUPV service standard is 360 days, with 90 days on ocean or near-coastal waters required for a near-coastal endorsement.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 10.219 Fees: Original officer endorsement fees are $100 evaluation, $110 examination, and $45 issuance.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 15.605 Credentialed operators for uninspected passenger vessels: Each uninspected passenger vessel must be under the direction and control of an individual credentialed by the Coast Guard.
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 2101: Federal definitions include the uninspected passenger vessel category used for boats under 100 gross tons carrying not more than six passengers.
- Alaska Legislature, AS 43.70.020 License required: A person engaging in a business in Alaska must apply, with the appropriate fee, and obtain a valid state business license.
- Alaska DCCED, Business License Frequently Asked Questions: Alaska DCCED publishes current business license application and fee rules that operators must confirm before paying.
- Transportation Security Administration, TWIC program page: TSA administers TWIC enrollment and sets the current TWIC fee that MMC applicants must confirm.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Medical Certificate: NMC requires a medical certificate based on the CG-719K process for Merchant Mariner Credentials.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 10.203 Requirement to hold a TWIC and a merchant mariner credential: MMC issuance is tied to holding a TWIC under Coast Guard credentialing rules.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 11.201 General requirements for national and STCW officer endorsements: General officer endorsement rules cover age, first aid and CPR, and recency of service used in OUPV evaluations.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, User Fees: NMC publishes the live user-fee amounts that applicants should confirm against 46 CFR 10.219 before payment.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 16.220 Periodic testing requirements: Chemical testing rules in 46 CFR part 16 govern drug tests used with merchant mariner applications.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Application checklists: NMC checklists list the CG-719 forms and supporting evidence required for original and renewal officer credentials.