Regulations last checked for updates: Feb 11, 2026

Title 46 - Shipping last revised: Jan 15, 2026
§ 15.865 - Qualified Member of the Engine Department.

(a) Every person serving under the authority of a rating endorsement as Qualified Member of the Engine Department (QMED) on any United States vessel requiring QMED must hold an endorsement as QMED.

(b) On vessels subject to STCW, certain seafarers meeting the requirement of this section must also hold either an STCW endorsement as Able Seafarer-Engine or Rating Forming Part of an Engineering Watch (RFPEW) or designated to perform duties in a periodically unmanned engineroom (according to § 15.404(c) and (d)), except as noted in § 15.105(g) for vessels on domestic near-coastal voyages.

[USCG-2004-17914, 78 FR 78009, Dec. 24, 2013]
authority: 46 U.S.C. 2101,2103,3306,3703,8101,8102,8103,8104,8105,8301,8304,8502,8503,8701,8702,8901,8902,8903,8904,8905,8906; sec. 617, Pub. L. 111-281, 124 Stat. 2905; and DHS Delegation No. 00170.1, Revision No. 01.4
source: CGD 81-059, 52 FR 38652, Oct. 16, 1987, as amended by USCG-2021-0097, 89 FR 93118, Nov. 25, 2024, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 46 CFR 15.865