OUPV vs Master Captain License
Builds guide sites for a livingPublished July 8, 2026Last updated July 27, 202616 min read
- Six or fewer passengers on an uninspected vessel is the whole scope of the smaller credential.
- The published exam codes step from one module block to two to three as authority increases.
- The limited version drops the international rules module and chart plot from the examination.
- The first upgrade carries an age floor a year higher than the credential below it.
- Everything outside the examination is effectively identical between the two.
Six passengers is the line, and everything else follows from it. One credential is written for uninspected vessels carrying six or fewer; the other is what you need once the boat is inspected and the seventh person steps aboard. The step shows up in the examination itself, where the smaller credential draws one block of modules and the larger ones draw two and three. The licensing hub gathers the rest.
Published examination codes, near-coastal route
| Code | Endorsement | Module blocks |
|---|---|---|
| ONC07 | OUPV, near-coastal | One |
| ONC06 | Master, under 100 GRT | Two |
| ONC05 | Master or Mate, under 200 GRT | Three |
| ONC03 | Master, 500 to 1,600 GRT | Three |
What actually separates them?
The passenger count, and then the vessel.
Three limits define the smaller credential in regulation: a tonnage ceiling at the hundred-ton mark, an allowance covering propulsion machinery of any type, and a passenger maximum of six.
Each is a genuine constraint, and the passenger figure is the one that binds first in practice.
Carrying a seventh paying passenger moves the boat into an inspected category, and an inspected passenger vessel needs a master rather than an operator.
So the choice is not between two grades of the same thing, it is between two different kinds of operation.
The definition is at the section governing the smaller endorsement.
The vessel category piece covers what inspection actually involves.
Does the examination differ?
Visibly, and the codes prove it.
The national maritime centre publishes examination codes by endorsement, and on the near-coastal route the smaller credential is code ONC07 drawing a single block of modules.
Master of vessels under a hundred gross tons is code ONC06 and draws two blocks.
Master or mate of vessels under 200 gross tons is code ONC05 and draws three.
The pattern holds on other routes, so the step up in authority is a step up in the number of subject areas examined rather than in difficulty alone.
Those codes are published at the national maritime centre, refreshed in August 2024.
The examination piece covers how a paper is assembled from those codes.
What is inside the smaller exam?
Five named modules, and one of them is plotting.
On the Great Lakes and inland route the smaller credential is code GLI07, and the published module list names its parts individually.
They are rules of the road international and inland, rules of the road inland, deck general and safety, navigation general for Great Lakes and inland, and chart plot.
That is the whole examination stated in five lines, which is more transparency than most candidates expect.
Anybody preparing can read the published sample for each of those five rather than guessing at scope.
Chart plot is the module that decides most outcomes, because it is the only one a lifetime of boat handling does not teach.
Whether a course closes that particular gap better than time afloat is argued through in the piece on schools.
The limited version drops a module, and you can see which. Set the two Great Lakes and inland codes side by side. Code GLI07, the ordinary version, lists five modules: rules of the road international and inland, rules of the road inland, deck general and safety, navigation general, and chart plot. Code GLI08, the limited version issued for camps, clubs, educational institutions and marinas, lists three: rules of the road inland, deck general and safety, and navigation general. Two things fall away. The international rules module goes, which makes sense for a credential that will never leave inland water. And chart plot goes entirely, which is the single hardest module for most candidates and the one that accounts for the largest share of failures. So the limited route is not merely shorter on service, at three months against twelve; it is shorter on examination by the two hardest lines on the list. That is a substantial difference for somebody whose work genuinely is a marina or a camp, and it is worth knowing before enrolling in a course built around the full version. These are the published module lists as they stood when read; whether the limited endorsement suits any particular work is a matter for the licensing office.
How does the age requirement differ?
By a year, at the first step up.
The regulation sets a default age of 21 for officer endorsements and then carves out two lists.
The smaller credential appears on the 18-year list, alongside limited master of near-coastal vessels of less than a hundred gross tons.
Master of near-coastal, Great Lakes and inland, or river vessels of 25 to 200 gross tons appears on the 19-year list instead.
So the first meaningful upgrade carries an age floor a year higher, which occasionally matters for somebody moving early.
The age piece sets out both lists in full.
Nothing about the upgrade path removes the requirement to have been examined for what you already hold.
Which one does a fishing operation need?
The smaller one, almost always.
A guided fishing day is built around two anglers and occasionally three, which is nowhere near the passenger ceiling.
Even a larger centre console running a family trip rarely puts more than six paying people aboard.
So the smaller credential covers the entire ordinary practice of the trade, and the larger one is bought for a different business.
That different business is usually a head boat, a party boat, an eco tour or a sightseeing operation, all of which sell seats rather than a boat.
Anybody drifting toward that model should be planning the upgrade well before the first oversized booking.
The head boat piece covers the operation the larger credential exists for.
What does the upgrade cost in service?
More time, and time of a particular kind.
A year of operating experience underpins the smaller credential, three months of which have to fall on the route being sought.
The master endorsements above it ask for more service and weight it toward larger vessels and the route endorsed.
Time accumulated running a small guide boat therefore contributes but does not by itself carry somebody to a master endorsement.
The practical route is crewing on a larger inspected vessel for a season or two while continuing to run your own.
Logging that time with the vessel's tonnage and official number recorded is what makes it usable later.
The sea time piece covers how those days are credited.
Do the routes work the same way?
Yes, and the smaller credential covers more than its name suggests.
Take the near-coastal version and the water it reaches is wider than the name implies: coastal sea out to a hundred miles from shore, plus the Great Lakes, plus inland water generally.
Three categories under a single endorsement is unusually generous at this level of credential.
Take the inland version instead and the Great Lakes drop straight back out of it, which is the reversal people most often make.
Master endorsements are similarly route-bounded, with separate codes published for oceans and near-coastal, Great Lakes and inland, and rivers.
Widening a route is its own application in either case rather than something that happens by working elsewhere.
The two-state piece covers what travels across a border.
What is common to both?
The rules of the road, first module either way.
Both credentials open on a rules module, and the published navigation rules are the source for it.
One official edition sets the two versions of those rules alongside each other, separating international from inland with a bracket notation rather than printing them twice.
Its opening part deals with application, responsibility and the definitions; the part after it governs how vessels steer and sail, from keeping a proper look-out through to the actions taken to avoid a collision.
Three situations inside that part generate a disproportionate share of questions: one vessel passing another, two meeting bow to bow, and two whose courses cross.
The edition is at the navigation centre and is marked as amended in June 2023.
Reading it once properly serves both credentials and the English language requirement as well.
What else is common?
Everything that is not the examination.
Six items sit outside the examination for either credential: a medical certificate, a chemical test, two certificates covering first aid and resuscitation, the transport security credential, and the record review.
Both are applications valid for a year once approved, so both fail the same way when a component expires while another is pending.
Both renew on their own cycle, and both require the same standard of documented service.
So the overhead of holding a credential is nearly identical whichever one it is.
The difference in effort sits almost entirely in the service and the examination rather than in the surrounding process.
The renewal piece covers the cycle both sit on.
Is it worth going straight to the larger one?
Rarely, and the reason is timing.
Somebody who intends to run a six-passenger boat for the next decade gains nothing from a larger credential except the cost of getting it.
Somebody who genuinely intends to buy an inspected vessel within a year or two has a real argument for skipping a step.
Everybody else is better served getting the smaller credential earlier and starting to earn, since the service accumulated then counts toward the upgrade anyway.
Working under the smaller credential is also the fastest way to find out whether the larger business is one you actually want.
The upgrade is genuinely available later, which removes most of the urgency.
The timeline piece covers what each route costs in months.
What about the fishing industry version?
A third category, and it is not for guiding.
The published codes include separate entries for master and mate of uninspected fishing industry vessels.
Those endorsements govern commercial harvest operations rather than carrying paying anglers, which is a different business with different rules.
A guide who also runs commercially in another season may end up holding more than one endorsement.
Neither of the passenger credentials authorises commercial fishing, and the fishing industry endorsement does not authorise carrying passengers for hire.
Anybody straddling both should confirm what each of their endorsements actually permits before mixing them.
The charter and guide piece covers the arrangements each of these sits under.
Does insurance care which one you hold?
It cares about the operation, and the credential follows it.
An underwriter is pricing the number of people aboard, the water, the boat and the activity rather than the wording on a card.
What the credential does is establish that the operation is lawful, which is a precondition rather than a rating factor.
Moving from six passengers to a larger inspected vessel changes every one of the rating factors at once, so the premium moves for reasons that have nothing to do with the upgrade itself.
Anybody planning that step should get an indication before committing to the boat, because the insurance frequently costs more than the extra revenue assumed.
Underwriters also ask about crew, which a larger operation needs and a six-passenger one usually does not.
Raise it early rather than at binding, since a surprise here delays a season.
The insurance piece sets out what those policies actually contain.
Does the boat itself have to change?
Yes, and that is the real cost of the step.
Carrying more than six paying people means an inspected vessel, and inspection reaches construction, stability, equipment and manning rather than paperwork alone.
A boat built and sold as a recreational hull generally cannot be brought into that category by adding equipment.
So the upgrade in credential is usually the cheapest line in a change that also involves buying a different boat.
People occasionally discover this in the wrong order, having paid for a course before pricing a hull.
Price the vessel first and the credential second, because the credential is the part that can be arranged in months.
The party size piece covers the limits that apply below that threshold.
Can you hold both at once?
The larger one covers the smaller work.
Endorsements are recorded on a single credential document rather than issued as separate cards, so a mariner accumulates them on one record.
A master endorsement at a given tonnage and route generally authorises the lesser service within it, which is why an upgrade replaces rather than supplements.
What does not happen automatically is a change of route, since route is endorsed separately from grade.
Somebody upgrading grade while intending to change water needs both applications rather than one.
Read the endorsement wording on the document rather than assuming, because the limits are printed there.
The inland waters piece covers where a credential is needed at all.
What does each cost to obtain?
The examination is the small line either way.
Both routes carry an evaluation fee, an examination fee and an issuance fee, paid through the federal payments portal rather than to any school.
Course fees sit on top of those and are set commercially, which is where the two routes genuinely diverge in price.
The security credential and the medical are identical costs whichever credential is sought.
Time is the larger cost in both cases, and for the master endorsement it is dominated by accumulating service on larger vessels.
Anybody comparing them on price alone is comparing the smallest component of each.
The cost piece works through the individual lines.
Which do employers ask for?
Whichever their boat requires, and no more.
An operation running six-passenger charters advertises for the smaller credential, and holding a larger one is neither a disadvantage nor much of an advantage.
A head boat, a dinner cruise or a tour operator asks for the master endorsement because its vessel is inspected.
Lodges and outfitters hiring guides frequently ask for the smaller credential plus a state guide licence, which is a different combination again.
Where an advertisement is vague, the vessel tells you which is meant.
Holding the larger credential does signal seriousness to a lodge, and that is worth something even where it is not required.
The apprenticeship piece covers how those first jobs are usually found.
What surprises people most?
That the exam structure is published in advance.
Most candidates assume the content is confidential and find the module list, the code and a sample for each module published openly.
The second surprise is that the limited version drops both the international rules module and chart plot.
The third is that the smaller credential covers near-coastal water, the Great Lakes and all inland waters under one endorsement.
The fourth is that the first upgrade carries an age floor a year higher than the credential below it.
The fifth is that the examination for master under 100 gross tons draws two module blocks where the smaller credential draws one.
The sixth is that everything outside the examination is effectively identical between them.
Together they explain why the sensible order is almost always the smaller credential first.
Choosing between them, in order
Count the passengers, then decide.
Expect six or fewer passengers to be the whole question for a guiding operation.
Expect the smaller credential to cover near-coastal, Great Lakes and inland water in one endorsement.
Expect the examination to be a single published module block rather than a mystery.
Expect the limited version to exist where the work is a camp, club, educational institution or marina.
Expect the first upgrade to add a year to the age floor and a block to the examination.
Expect service accumulated under the smaller credential to count toward the larger one.
And expect the sensible route to be earning first and upgrading when the boat actually changes.
Examination codes and module lists are administrative publications that change, and the ones described here were read on the date stated. Nothing on this page reproduces examination content, states a pass mark, a question count or a time limit, or predicts what any individual candidate will sit. The service requirements for master endorsements are described in general terms rather than quoted, because they differ by tonnage, route and grade and are set out in sections this page does not reproduce. Whether the limited endorsement is available for particular work is a determination made by the licensing office rather than by any general rule, and the same is true of restricted endorsements for named waters. Nothing here addresses vessel inspection requirements, manning requirements, or what a particular operation must hold, all of which turn on the vessel and the service being offered. The comparison panel sets two published module lists against each other and infers nothing beyond what they contain. Verify every code and requirement against the licensing authority's own current publications before acting on a word of it.
How this was checked. The definition of the smaller endorsement is quoted from 46 CFR 11.467 as published in the Legal Information Institute's edition of the Code of Federal Regulations and read on 27 July 2026: that the section applies to an applicant for an endorsement as Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels of less than 100 GRT, equipped with propulsion machinery of any type, carrying six or fewer passengers; that an endorsement for near-coastal waters limits the holder to service on domestic, near-coastal waters not more than 100 miles offshore, the Great Lakes, and all inland waters; that endorsements issued for inland waters include all inland waters except the Great Lakes; that a near-coastal applicant must have a minimum of 12 months of experience in the operation of vessels, including at least 3 months of service on ocean or near-coastal waters; and that a limited endorsement may be issued to an applicant to be employed by organizations such as formal camps, yacht clubs, educational institutions, and marinas, requiring 3 months of service in the operation of the type of vessel for which the endorsement is requested. The age floors are quoted from 46 CFR 11.201(e), read the same day: that except as specified, no officer endorsement may be issued to a person who has not attained the age of 21 years; that Master of near-coastal, Great Lakes and inland, or river vessels of 25-200 GRT appears on the list of endorsements that may be granted at 19 years; and that Limited Master of near-coastal vessels of less than 100 GRT and Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels both appear on the list of endorsements that may be granted at 18 years. The examination codes and module lists are taken from the deck officer examination pages published by the National Maritime Center, marked as refreshed August 2024 and read on 27 July 2026. Taken from the oceans or near coastal table: ONC01 Master/Chief Mate Unlimited Tonnage with modules Q100-Q104 and Q105-Q109; ONC02 Second Mate and Third Mate Unlimited Tonnage with Q100-Q113 and Q114-Q117; ONC03 Master less than 500 to 1,600 GRT with Q100-Q123, Q124-Q130 and Q131-Q135; ONC04 Mate of less than 500 to 1,600 GRT with Q100-Q138 and Q139-Q142; ONC05 Master or Mate of less than 200 GRT with Q100-Q151, Q152-Q156 and Q157-Q159; ONC06 Master less than 100 GRT with Q100-Q161 and Q162-Q165; ONC07 OUPV Near Coastal with Q100-Q172; UFV01 Master of Uninspected Fishing Vessels with Q100-Q182 and Q183-Q186; and UFV02 Mate of Uninspected Fishing Industry Vessels with Q100-Q190 and Q191-Q194. Taken from the Great Lakes and inland table: GLI05 Master or Mate of less than 200 GRT with Q100-Q341 and Q342-Q346; GLI06 Master or Mate of less than 100 GRT with Q100-Q352; GLI07 OUPV with Q100-Q358, whose named modules are Q100 Rules of the Road International and Inland, Q300 Rules of the Road Inland, Q356 Deck General and Safety, Q357 Navigation General Great Lakes and Inland, and Q358 Chart Plot; and GLI08 Limited OUPV with Q301-Q361, whose named modules are Q301 Rules of the Road Inland, Q360 Deck General and Safety, and Q361 Navigation General Great Lakes and Inland. The same pages state that sample examinations are published for each module, that renewal examinations have been issued electronically by email since 1 May 2020 with paper versions available on request, and that the process runs on an Approval To Test letter detailing the required modules together with an examination fee paid through the federal payments portal. The navigation rules material is taken from the amalgamated navigation rules published by the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center and read the same day, marked as amended June 12th, 2023, which sets out Part A covering application, responsibility and general definitions and Part B covering steering and sailing rules including look-out, safe speed, risk of collision, action to avoid collision, overtaking, the head-on situation and the crossing situation, and whose notation uses single angle brackets for International Rules and double angle brackets for Inland Rules. The comparison panel sets the published GLI07 and GLI08 module lists against each other and draws no conclusion beyond their contents. No examination content, pass mark, question count or time limit is reproduced or asserted anywhere on this page.
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Get a free website previewTwo credentials, compared properly
What actually separates them?
The passenger count, and then the vessel. Three limits define the smaller credential in regulation: a tonnage ceiling at the hundred-ton mark, an allowance covering propulsion machinery of any type, and a passenger maximum of six. Carrying a seventh paying passenger moves the boat into an inspected category, and an inspected passenger vessel needs a master rather than an operator. So the choice is not between two grades of the same thing, it is between two different kinds of operation.
Does the examination differ?
Visibly, and the codes prove it. The national maritime centre publishes examination codes by endorsement, and on the near-coastal route the smaller credential is code ONC07 drawing a single block of modules. Master of vessels under a hundred gross tons is code ONC06 and draws two blocks. Master or mate of vessels under 200 gross tons is code ONC05 and draws three. The pattern holds on other routes, so the step up in authority is a step up in the number of subject areas examined rather than in difficulty alone.
What is inside the smaller exam?
Five named modules, and one of them is plotting. On the Great Lakes and inland route the smaller credential is code GLI07, and the published module list names its parts: rules of the road international and inland, rules of the road inland, deck general and safety, navigation general for Great Lakes and inland, and chart plot. That is the whole examination stated in five lines, and anybody preparing can read the published sample for each rather than guessing at scope. Chart plot decides most outcomes, because it is the only one a lifetime of boat handling does not teach.
How does the age requirement differ?
By a year, at the first step up. The regulation sets a default age of 21 for officer endorsements and then carves out two lists. The smaller credential appears on the 18-year list, alongside limited master of near-coastal vessels of less than a hundred gross tons. Master of near-coastal, Great Lakes and inland, or river vessels of 25 to 200 gross tons appears on the 19-year list instead. So the first meaningful upgrade carries an age floor a year higher, which occasionally matters for somebody moving early.
Which one does a fishing operation need?
The smaller one, almost always. A guided fishing day is built around two anglers and occasionally three, which is nowhere near the passenger ceiling. Even a larger centre console running a family trip rarely puts more than six paying people aboard. So the smaller credential covers the entire ordinary practice of the trade, and the larger one is bought for a different business: a head boat, a party boat, an eco tour or a sightseeing operation, all of which sell seats rather than a boat.
Does the boat itself have to change?
Yes, and that is the real cost of the step. Carrying more than six paying people means an inspected vessel, and inspection reaches construction, stability, equipment and manning rather than paperwork alone. A boat built and sold as a recreational hull generally cannot be brought into that category by adding equipment. So the upgrade in credential is usually the cheapest line in a change that also involves buying a different boat. Price the vessel first and the credential second.
Is it worth going straight to the larger one?
Rarely, and the reason is timing. Somebody who intends to run a six-passenger boat for the next decade gains nothing from a larger credential except the cost of getting it. Somebody who genuinely intends to buy an inspected vessel within a year or two has a real argument for skipping a step. Everybody else is better served getting the smaller credential earlier and starting to earn, since the service accumulated then counts toward the upgrade anyway. The upgrade is genuinely available later, which removes most of the urgency.
Sources & methods
- 46 CFR 11.467, the six-passenger definition and the limited endorsement (Legal Information Institute)
- Deck officer examination codes and module lists (National Maritime Center)
- Navigation rules, amalgamated edition (U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center)
Every figure here is traced to a named public source and checked against it. Licensing, tax, and fee rules change. Verify your state’s current rules with the agency directly before you count on any number here.
Evan Knox
I build booking websites and run the ads and search for owner-run fishing guides, one operation per stretch of water. My first guide client, Bowman Fly Fishing, grew its revenue 4x in a year from that work. Field Notes is where I put the straight numbers on the business of guiding.
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Whichever license you hold, it doesn't book a single charter by itself.
I'm Evan, and once you've got the right tier of license for your boat and your passenger count, the job that never stops is making sure clients can actually find and book your charters. I build booking websites and run the search and ads for owner-run guide operations, one operation per stretch of water. Text me at (470) 777-9686 and I'll build you a free preview of a site before you pay a thing.