Oct. 20, 2001 – U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner credentials bearing questionable serial numbers will be inspected and, upon confirmation, reissued Monday on St. Thomas and Tuesday on St. Croix by a visiting Coast Guard license evaluation team.
The move stems from a finding in the Coast Guard Licensing Office in San Juan in January that numerous license blanks could not be accounted for and might have been issued fraudulently. The Coast Guard investigation into the matter is ongoing.
Lt. John Reinert, supervisor of the Marine Safety Detachment on St. Thomas, said the Coast Guard has requested assistance from the maritime industry, unions and other concerned individuals to help locate any possibly invalid credentials. He said local employers should check the serial numbers on Merchant Marine credentials in their records and send mariners "with credentials containing questionable serial numbers to us to have their documents confirmed and replaced."
The Coast Guard certificates in question contain serial numbers that fall in the following control number ranges:
765001-765100,
864001-864100,
865401-865500,
878001-878100, and
878601-878700.
"Some of the serial numbers in that bunch are legitimate renewals for mariners who have had licenses for decades," Reinert said. But, he added, it is suspected that "there are some first-time licenses in that bunch that will be fraudulent."
Any mariners holding confirmed credentials with serial numbers falling into the control ranges noted above will have their credentials reissued by the visiting evaluation team from the Coast Guard regional examination center in Miami free of charge, Reinert said.
The evaluation team will be available to inspect credential on St. Thomas on a first-come, first-served basis in the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment offices by Kings Wharf on Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The team will be on St. Croix at the Coast Guard resident inspection office in Christiansted on Tuesday, also from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a first-come basis.
Reinert said that mariners should arrive prepared to present their Merchant Marine credentials and all supporting documents to assist the Coast Guard evaluation team in its confirmation process.
For more information, contact Reinert at 776-3497 on St. Thomas or Lt. Robert Campbell at 772-5557 on St. Croix.
