Recent maritime grad with USCG 3rd assistant Unlimited HP steam & motor

Is your licence recognised under STCW regulations?

If he has a proper STCW compliant ticket he will be able to get a CeC from the MCA if so desired. The MCA handles all the tickets yacht and commercial

Why don't you use your ticket for 10 years and then buy a yacht? If you are a recent grad of one of the US maritime academies you should have zero issues getting work which easily pays well over 6 figures working 8 months a year- most of which should be outside the USA so the first $80K s nearly tax free. In another 5 years you'll hold the Master license and making $300K minimum. I'd assume you are young and single so expenses are nil. While life is short you'll have no problem finding adventures when working or when off- you don't need to work on yachts to do that. Just sayin'.

Actually as stated was never correct, but under current rules the amount is $99,200. However, your tax home must be a foreign country for the year. If that's not the case then it doesn't matter how much time you spend offshore. Now, if your tax home is a foreign country for the year, then there are other requirements. That gets more complicated as you must either have been a bona fide resident (as defined by IRS) of a foreign country the entire year or been present in foreign countries for 330 days out of a year. Days traveling at sea (or by air) don't count as physical presence after the first day. Oh and assuming all that it only applies to earned income and the balance of income is taxed at a very high rate.

So, do as Ken and talk to a qualified accountant with experience in the area. But it is in no way as easy as what Bamboo described and virtually impossible for a crew member to ever qualify. There are more elements that would restrict it too.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Inte...lusion-Can-I-Claim-the-Exclusion-or-Deduction

Tax law aside one can make quite a tidy sum working commercial instead of on yachts for a recent academy grad.

You should have no trouble getting on a yacht as 2nd or 3rd engineer and in the UK yacht time counts towards upgrading and re validating Commercial tickets not sure how it works for USCG Quals though.

Good luck in whatever way you decide to try.