Is the new Vessel Examiner required, in the calendar year of initial qualification, to perform the 5 VSCs (on their own) in order to maintain currency?

The qualification process states that, after the member passes the VE exam and successfully completes five supervised VSC they may become qualified and are eligible to perform VSC without supervision.  After the initial calendar year of qualification, the Vessel Examiner is required to perform a minimum of five VSCs in order to remain current for the following year.

The reason that the currency maintenance requirement is not in effect during the initial calendar year of qualification is because certain sections of the country have a limited boating season and a member qualifying late in the season may not have the opportunity to do the five VSC after qualification.

The statement "a member does not have to perform any additional VSCs in their initial calendar year of qualification" only relates to the currency process.  Vessel examiners are encouraged to do as many "quality" VSC as reasonable as their time and circumstances permit.