The CG-719S sea service form is the Coast Guard’s small-vessel sea service form, used to document time served aboard vessels under 200 gross register tons when you apply for a merchant mariner credential.1United States Coast Guard. Small Vessel Sea Service Form CG-719S Every day you claim has to be backed by information the Coast Guard can verify, and the burden of proving it sits with you.2eCFR. 46 CFR Part 10 – Merchant Mariner Credential Errors on this form are one of the most common reasons applications stall, so it pays to get the details right the first time.
You can download the fillable PDF from the National Maritime Center’s website. Before you start typing, pull together your vessel data, service dates, and ownership or signature information. Chasing down a missing official number halfway through the form is where most mistakes happen.
What Counts as a Day of Sea Service
One day of sea service equals eight hours of watchstanding or day-working within a 24-hour period. Overtime does not add to that total, so a 14-hour shift still earns a single day of credit.3eCFR. 46 CFR 10.107 – Definitions in Subchapter B Two exceptions matter for the numbers you enter on the form:
- On vessels under 100 GRT, a day is still eight hours by default, but the Coast Guard can adjust that threshold down to a minimum of four hours where the vessel’s operating schedule makes the eight-hour standard impractical.3eCFR. 46 CFR 10.107 – Definitions in Subchapter B
- On vessels authorized to operate a two-watch system under 46 U.S.C. 8104, a 12-hour working day earns 1.5 days of credit.4eCFR. 46 CFR 10.232 – Sea Service
Sea service is time aboard a vessel while it is in operation. Days when the vessel is laid up, in a shipyard, or out of commission for repairs generally don’t count and shouldn’t appear in your totals. For mobile offshore drilling units, the minimum is four hours per day, with no additional credit for hours beyond eight.4eCFR. 46 CFR 10.232 – Sea Service
Deck and engine service are tracked separately. Time in one department usually doesn’t transfer to the other unless the vessel’s manning document specifically authorizes dual-capacity roles. Officer endorsements are department-specific, so engine room hours won’t count toward a mate’s license. The waters you report also matter: inland, near-coastal, and ocean routes each map to different credentials, and inland service won’t satisfy an oceans-route endorsement. Report the actual waters navigated rather than a broad category.
Vessel Information the Form Requires
The form asks for the vessel’s official number or state registration number, the vessel name, and the gross registered tonnage. Gross registered tonnage measures the vessel’s internal volume, not its weight, and appears on the Certificate of Documentation or state registration. If tonnage isn’t shown in official records, you may need to provide the vessel’s length and breadth so the Coast Guard can work out the appropriate measurement.
You also need to specify the waters navigated and the capacity in which you served (for example, master, mate, deckhand, engineer). Match this to how your duties were actually structured aboard the vessel.
Filling in the Days-Served Grid
The heart of the CG-719S is a grid where you enter the number of days served for each month and year covered by the form. These entries have to reflect actual days on the water, not estimates or averages. The Coast Guard flags applications where the numbers look rounded or otherwise implausible, so if a month had 17 working days, write 17.
If you served aboard more than one vessel during the reporting period, use a separate CG-719S for each vessel. Mixing service across vessels on a single form muddles the record and forces evaluators to send the application back.
Who Has to Sign the Form
Someone with direct knowledge of your service has to verify it by signing. If you don’t own the vessel, the signature has to come from the owner, operator, or master, even in cases where you yourself served as master.5National Maritime Center. Crediting Sea Service You cannot sign for your own service on a vessel you don’t own, no matter how senior your position aboard was.
Self-Certification When You Own the Vessel
If you do own the vessel, you may attest to your own service, but you must also submit proof of ownership. The Coast Guard accepts several forms of proof:5National Maritime Center. Crediting Sea Service
- The vessel’s title document
- State registration for state-registered vessels
- Certificate of Documentation for Coast Guard-documented vessels
- Proof of insurance that clearly identifies the specific vessel
- A bill of sale showing transfer of ownership to you
If you’re signing as the owner of a corporation that owns the vessel, include proof of company ownership as well, such as articles of incorporation. Photographs of the vessel are not accepted as proof of ownership.
When the CG-719S Is Not the Right Form
The CG-719S is limited to vessels under 200 gross register tons. Service on larger commercial vessels and military sea service are documented differently, and using the wrong form will send your application back.
Commercial maritime employers typically provide a letter of service on company letterhead instead of filling out individual CG-719S forms. The letter has to include vessel name and official number, gross tonnage, propulsion power and mode of propulsion, your position and duties, specific dates of service, waters navigated (with ports or terminals where applicable), whether the vessel was manned and equipped in accordance with STCW and SOLAS, and, for officer endorsements, watchkeeping time served under a qualified officer’s supervision.4eCFR. 46 CFR 10.232 – Sea Service The letter has to be signed by someone with access to official ship logs, such as a port captain or operations manager.
Military veterans document their time with a Transcript of Sea Service (TOSS). The DD-214 is not accepted, because it lacks vessel tonnage, horsepower, route, and the position you held aboard.6National Maritime Center. Documenting Military Sea Service For applications received after March 24, 2019, military sea service is normally credited at 60 percent of total time aboard a ship, so a TOSS showing 500 days assigned to a vessel yields 300 days of credit. Where you were temporarily assigned to a cutter or ship and operated small boats attached to it, you can receive day-for-day credit for the small boat operation, but each day must include at least four hours of service, with no extra credit beyond that minimum.7National Maritime Center. Crediting Military Sea Service
Penalties for False Entries
The CG-719S is a statement to a federal agency, and every signature on it carries that weight. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 1001, knowingly making a false statement or using a fraudulent document in a matter within federal jurisdiction carries a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally
Beyond criminal exposure, the Coast Guard can pursue administrative action against your existing credentials. An Administrative Law Judge can admonish, suspend, or revoke a merchant mariner credential or endorsement, and an order generally reaches all credentials and endorsements you hold rather than just the one at issue.9eCFR. 46 CFR Part 5 – Marine Investigation Regulations – Personnel Action Voluntarily surrendering a credential to avoid a hearing is treated as the equivalent of revocation. The Coast Guard classifies these actions as remedial rather than punitive, but the practical effect on a career is the same.
Keep personal copies of every CG-719S you submit, along with the underlying records that support the days you claimed. If a former employer or vessel owner later becomes unreachable, your own file is what allows you to reconstruct the service you’ve already documented once.