The following is the text of a news release from the National Maritime Center (NMC):
(MARTINSBURG, W.Va.) — This notice serves to inform the maritime industry that due to the government shutdown, the National Maritime Center is closed.
Despite this closure, the NMC is authorized to maintain a small cadre of personnel to support national defense-related credentialing issues. The NMC will:
• Maintain the Customer Service Center call center: 1-888-IASKNMC (427-5662) and IASKNMC@uscg.mil will be monitored from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. Regional Examination Center (REC) and other NMC phone/e-mail addresses will not be monitored.
• Maintain the NMC website. We will keep the industry up to date on our status via the website and all list servers.
• Close all RECs and Monitoring Units.
• Examination appointments are canceled and must be rescheduled after the shutdown is lifted. Online scheduling is disabled.
• Appointments to drop off applications are canceled and must be rescheduled after the shutdown is lifted. Online scheduling is disabled.
• Customer walk-in service is suspended until the shutdown is lifted.
• Applications may continue to be mailed or e-mailed and will be processed when the shutdown is lifted.
The NMC recognizes that this shutdown will impact the maritime industry. We will do whatever we can to minimize the impact and to recover from the shutdown as quickly as possible.
