OUPV / Master <100 GT Exam Prep

USCG MMC — OUPV / Master <100 GT Near-Coastal ("Six-Pack" and Small-Vessel Master)

The USCG Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels (OUPV) and Master <100 GT Near-Coastal endorsements are the most commonly issued professional Merchant Mariner Credentials in the United States. OUPV — the so-called "Six-Pack" — allows you to carry up to six paying passengers on an uninspected vessel (charter fishing, eco-tour, sailing charter). Master <100 GT lets you command a Coast Guard-inspected small passenger vessel (Subchapter T or K) carrying more than six passengers, tugs, water taxis, crew boats, and research vessels. Both are issued under 46 CFR Part 11 Subpart C by the National Maritime Center. The near-coastal route extends up to 200 nautical miles off the U.S. coast; inland-only endorsements are also available and use a slightly narrower exam.

Exam structure

The USCG small-vessel exam is a single sitting split into four modules drawn from the NMC small-vessel question bank:

• Q110 – Deck General & Safety (deck-gen + deck-safe) — typically 50 questions combined, 3 hours. Seamanship, lines, fenders, anchoring, small-boat stability, firefighting, lifesaving, pollution, weather, USCG regulations for small passenger vessels.
• Q111 – Navigation General (nav-gen) — 30 questions, 2 hours. Aids to navigation (IALA-B buoyage), compass, tides, currents, coastal piloting. OUPV skips celestial; Master 100 GT Near-Coastal includes a light dose of coastal navigation problems.
• Q100 – Rules of the Road (rules) — 30 questions, 1.5 hours. International + Inland. 90% to pass — miss no more than 3.
• Chart plot (Master 100 GT only) — 10 questions on NOAA training chart 1210TR.

Every module except Rules passes at 70%; Rules is the USCG's 90% cutoff, and retests of Rules alone are allowed if other modules pass.

Eligibility & prerequisites

• Sea service documented on CG-719S: OUPV requires 360 days total, with 90 days in the last three years. Master 100 GT Near-Coastal requires 720 days total, with 360 days on vessels over 50 GT (or documented equivalent).
• Medical certificate CG-719K.
• TWIC from TSA.
• STCW not required for purely domestic OUPV operation, but Basic Training (BT) is required if you carry passengers on international voyages.
• CPR and First Aid cards from a USCG-accepted provider (Red Cross, AHA).
• Drug test (DOT 5-panel) within 185 days.
• Age 18 for OUPV; 19 for Master 100 GT.

Study timeline

Most candidates prep 6–10 weeks for OUPV and 10–14 weeks for Master 100 GT. OUPV schools (Sea School, Mariners Learning System, Maritime Professional Training) compress the curriculum into a 1–2 week in-person course followed by the USCG-approved course exam, which can substitute for the REC exam if taken through an approved provider.

What examiners look for

The small-vessel exam is less math-heavy than the unlimited license but more regulation-literal. Expect:

• Small passenger vessel stability (Subchapter T vs. Subchapter K).
• Aids to Navigation under IALA-B — red/green lateral, safe water, preferred channel marks; verbatim questions on light rhythm and day shapes.
• Fire extinguisher requirements per 46 CFR 25.30.
• Load line and freeboard considerations for <100 GT.
• Rules of the Road scenarios heavy on restricted visibility, narrow channels, and traffic separation schemes (Rule 10).

Pull the NMC sample exam PDFs for Q110 and Q111 and work them twice — the small-vessel pool is smaller than the unlimited pool, so question reuse is high.

Common pitfalls

• Rules 90% threshold is the #1 failure point. Candidates who breeze through Nav and Deck General often stumble on Rules 23–30 (lights and shapes).
• Confusing Inland whistle signals with International — Inland has a "cross signal" (one short), International does not.
• Missing the oil pollution placard and MARPOL record requirements.
• Forgetting that EPIRB registration renews every two years.

Study strategy using MMCE.app

Choose the Deck track and the <100 GT target during MMCE.app onboarding. With 4,802 curated items in the small-vessel bank, the adaptive engine generates daily drills that keep you at the edge of the 70%/90% pass envelope:

1. 20-item daily mixed module drill.
2. Dedicated Rules block every session — the 90% cutoff demands constant exposure.
3. Weekly full-length timed practice test (100 items across modules).
4. AI tutor feedback tied to the exact CFR citation so you can skim the regulation on the NMC site.
5. Flashcards for light and shape combinations — SM-2 spaced intervals memorize them into long-term retention.

Relevant publications

• Chapman Piloting & Seamanship (68th+ ed.) — small-vessel bible.
• Dutton's Nautical Navigation — coastal piloting reference.
• Navigation Rules, International–Inland (COMDTINST M16672.2D).
• 33 CFR Parts 83–90 (Inland Rules).
• 46 CFR Subchapter T (Small Passenger Vessels <100 GT) and Subchapter C (Uninspected Vessels).
• 33 CFR 62 and 66 — U.S. Aids to Navigation System.
• 33 CFR 151 (Oil Pollution).
• NVIC 04-08 and NVIC 24-14 on OUPV/Master 100 GT endorsement policy.
• Boatswain's Manual and Small Boat Handbook (COMDTINST M16114.33A).

After you pass

The OUPV or Master 100 GT MMC is valid five years. Renewal requires CG-719B, CG-719K, TWIC, and one of: (a) one year of sea service in the last five, (b) three months in the last six months of the expiring credential, or (c) a USCG-approved open book re-exam or deck license refresher course.

Upgrade path: OUPV → Master 100 GT (+ sea service and additional exam modules) → Master 200 GT Near-Coastal → Master 500/1,600 GT. Common add-on endorsements: Sail, Auxiliary Sail, Towing (Master of Towing Vessels), and Assistance Towing. MMCE.app hosts modules for each upgrade step and recycles your historical question history — correct answers you banked studying for OUPV are already mastered when you move to Master 100 GT.