Counter Service Appointments are Back at Regional National Maritime Centers

The National Maritime Center has resumed counter service appointments at 18 of its regional examination centers, including three in Alaska, two in California, and one each in Hawaii, Oregon and Washington state.

Mariners wishing to schedule counter service or examination appointments may do so by contacting the appropriate email address or phone numbers:

• REC Anchorage recanc@uscg.mil
• REC Juneau recjun@uscg.mil
• MU Ketchikan 907-225-4496 (extension #3)
• REC Long Beach reclb@uscg.mil
• REC Oakland recoakland@uscg,uscg.mil
• REC Honolulu rechonolulu@uscg.mil
• REC Portland recportland@uscg.mil
• REC Seattle recseattle@uscg.mil

No walk-in appointments are available. Late arrivals for appointments will not be permitted and will require rescheduling to another date.

Only the mariner conducting business may enter the REC, with other members of their party remaining outside during the appointment. Also, mariners will be subject to COVID-19 screening questions and temperature checks, and any mariners experiencing COVID-19 symptoms will need to reschedule their appointment.

Face coverings are required at all times. Anyone removing a face covering will be dismissed and could be subject to exam module failure, according to the National Maritime Center. Persons with documented health issues that prevent them from wearing face coverings must notify the REC/MU when scheduling appointments.

All fees must be satisfied prior to arrival at the REC for counter service or examination appointments, with https://www.pay.gov/public/home the preferred payment method.

Mariners should bring a pay.gov receipt, their own #2 pencils, photo ID, a non-programmable calculator and plotting equipment. No other personal belongings are allowed in the facility.

Those with questions and concerns may contact the NMC Customer Service Center at IASKNMC@uscg.mil or call 1-888-IASKNMC (888-427-5662).

The National Maritime Center also issued an update on its centralized electronic delivery process for renewal examinations, which was launched back in May of 2020.

To date over 1,200 mariners have completed over 3,000 exam modules using this process and feedback on the improved communications and significant reduction in processing time has been overwhelmingly positive, officials said.

Approval to test letters for renewal exams issued on or after May 1, 2020, include directions on how to obtain an electronic exam. Those directions may also be found on the NMC examinations page website, https://www.dco.uscg.mil/nmc/examinations/

For questions, concerns or feedback on this process, email IASKNMC@uscg.mil or call 1-888-IASKNMC (427-5662).