# medical certificate — How long medical certificates last for pilots, commercial drivers and merchant mariners — by class, age and service type

For medical certificate, occupation / regulator is merchant mariner (US Coast Guard); age / service condition is All persons employed or engaged onboard vessels to which STCW applies; operation / activity covered is onboard vessels to which STCW applies; valid for is valid for 2 years; citation is 46 CFR 10.301, recorded from its source on 2026-08-11.

- **Occupation / regulator:** merchant mariner (US Coast Guard) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Certificate and class:** medical certificate _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Age / service condition:** All persons employed or engaged onboard vessels to which STCW applies _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Operation / activity covered:** onboard vessels to which STCW applies _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Valid for:** valid for 2 years _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Citation:** 46 CFR 10.301 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> ( 1 ) All persons employed or engaged onboard vessels to which STCW applies will be issued a medical certificate valid for 2 years unless the mariner is under the age of 18, in which case the maximum period of validity will be 1 year.

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-46/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-10/subpart-C/section-10.301

Last verified: 2026-08-11. Review by: 2027-08-11.
Part of [How long medical certificates last for pilots, commercial drivers and merchant mariners — by class, age and service type](https://referencesource.org/medical-certificate-validity-by-occupation/).