Marine SSB is not the same as Ham so you don't need the same licenses.
For pleasure craft use, in Canada, you only require your VHF license.
Pretty sure it is the same in the USA.

"Gary G" see.signature@bottom wrote in message
...
AFAIK, no FCC license allows HF (SSB) band
transmission without an appropriate
license. This means that one needs General or greater.
If the pictue has changed, please let me know.

N6oij


Gary Gaugler, Ph.D.
Microtechnics, Inc.
Granite Bay, CA 95746
916.791.8191
gary@microtechnics dot com