Licensing authority

A Licensing authority is an authority that grants licenses, for example the Coast Guard or Department of Transportation – the authority who has jurisdiction over either a geographical region, such as the coast of a country, or vessels plying their trade within its boundaries, or authority over its citizens, and meets their licensing requirements by providing testing, standards, renewal, etc. This authority extends to being able to revoke licenses in cases of negligence. For example, most US citizens would obtain their license/s from the US Coast Guard and from the UK from the DOT there, however a US skipper might need an EU or UK ticket to operate a British-flagged vessel, and would not normally be barred from obtaining one by virtue of lack of citizenship alone. In the US a Master Mariner takes an oath of allegiance and may be called into service in an auxiliary capacity, such as coast guard reserve.