DISTRIBUTION – SDL No. 168
NON-STANDARD DISTRIBUTION:
Commandant
United States Coast Guard
U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7331
2703 Martin Luther King
Jr Ave SE
-7331
CG-741
) 372-2076
COMDTINST 1650.18
18 JAN 2017
COMMANDANT INSTRUCTION 1650.18
MASTER MARINE INSPECTOR CERTIFICATE
(a) CG-CVC Policy Letter 15-02 Definition of Apprentice, Journeyman, Advanced
Journeyman Marine Inspector, dated 16 Oct 2015.
(b) CG-CVC Policy Letter 15-01 Enlisted Assistant Marine Inspector Qualification Policy,
dated 13 Aug 2015.
1. PURPOSE. This Instruction establishes policies, procedures, and standards for the administration of
the Master Marine Inspector Certificate program.
2. ACTION. This certificate program is voluntary. Internet release is authorized.
3. DIRECTIVE AFFECTED. None.
4. DISCUSSION.
a. The safety inspection of merchant vessels documented under the flag of the United States has
been authorized in varying degrees by Congress and required by law since 1838. The legacy of
today’s Marine Inspector begins with the Steamboat Inspection Service which was created by
Congress in 1871 in response to a significant number of deaths on the high seas and along the
coast and river banks of this country. Originally, there were nine supervisory inspectors, each
responsible for a specific geographic region, to inspect commercial steam vessels in order to
safeguard lives and property at sea.
b. The Steamboat Inspection Service was combined with the Bureau of Navigation in 1932 and this
new organization was in turn renamed the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation in 1936.
As a wartime measure, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9083 on February
28, 1942, temporarily transferring the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation to the control
of the Coast Guard. This transfer was made permanent by Reorganization Plan Number 3 on
July 16, 1946.
