|
Not in America, buddy, insanely low interest rates are not universal
|
# ? Aug 17, 2012 05:45 |
|
|
# ? May 18, 2024 18:13 |
|
Yeah got a job! I posted awhile back asking about joining some of the sailing unions but I decided to ditch that idea and got hired with Chouest out in the gulf. I've noticed a few questions about the gulf oil patch and while ive only been a out a short time I will try and answer any questions people might have.
|
# ? Aug 17, 2012 07:10 |
|
Two Finger posted:I think you need to understand this is a very, very lonely way of life. It is not a coincidence marine engineers have the highest suicide rate of ANY career - I believe it is over triple that of the average. I don't think this is at all true, infact I don't think we are even in the top ten (morbid as it is). Although we are miserable bastards and sit around the smoko room staring of into space hoping something crazy happens so we don't have to walk back down the pit and clean purifier discs.
|
# ? Aug 18, 2012 06:31 |
|
I'm currently on the back end of an 8 week hitch working on a subsea ROV ship on the east coast. A lot of people here onboard these supply and subsea boats have pretty good lives, most do 28 day rotations and you are in touch with shore most days. It's pretty intense schedule (we have done straight sixes for the whole trip and more when in port) but for the most part your shift is spent on the DP desk so it's not too physically demanding. Hard to keep in shape though and get motivated for the gym working sixes, and that midnight meal is killing the waist line. I would think that the shorter your rotation gets the better it is for maintaining a healthy family life ashore (most people here are married with kids). For me it's not an issue that is why I'm going for the longer hitches but a lot can be said for being home each month. Personally I think a month is too short off but probably would change my tune if I had someone at home waiting.
|
# ? Aug 19, 2012 16:54 |
|
FrozenVent posted:Yeah, this. It's not a job, it's a lifestyle. This isn't something you do to find yourself. This isn't something you do to fund your traveling. This is gospel. I'm trying to get out of sailing now actually. It's fun if you don't give a gently caress about anything except money and time off, but to have a life at home is drat hard. You'd think with so much time off you'd have lots of time to hang out with people, but you quickly realize that everyone else works normal jobs and are usually too tired to go out partying on a tuesday night. My last tour my friend died, my dog died, and my girlfriend dumped me all within a month of each other. Being on a ship when that kind of stuff happens is loving rough. If I can't find anything shoreside or I get bored as hell, I can always go back to the hall and probably catch a job within a month. Although I'm not going to like this pay cut to come ashore, a job I interviewed for last week was paying half of what I can make on ships sailing only 6 months. gently caress. Fish Shalami fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Aug 19, 2012 |
# ? Aug 19, 2012 17:01 |
|
I'm getting ready to do a 9 week stint to Antarctica for the first resupply trip of the season. Hoping to do the SIPEX trip (ramming ice bergs) early next year... apparently is really fun. And sorry I wasn't being homophobic, it's just not a very welcoming sight to walk into the bar after a watch and find two hairy dudes going at it on the couch. Ha. The offshore is really dry here at the moment, there's about to be like 200 dudes on the database looking for work so I snatched up the antarctic gig straight away, bit of a paycut but at least I can't spend anything while I'm away... and I'll be spending my 25th birthday on the ice!!
|
# ? Aug 21, 2012 13:35 |
|
Sludge Tank posted:I'm getting ready to do a 9 week stint to Antarctica for the first resupply trip of the season. Hoping to do the SIPEX trip (ramming ice bergs) early next year... apparently is really fun. What ship? I was on a tanker that went down there a couple years ago, probably the coolest trip ever.
|
# ? Aug 21, 2012 16:47 |
|
Aurora Australis. I have heard rumours it's getting replaced if they can keep the contract. would love to see the new icebreaker!
|
# ? Aug 22, 2012 09:12 |
|
Fish Shalami posted:This is gospel. I'm trying to get out of sailing now actually. It's fun if you don't give a gently caress about anything except money and time off, but to have a life at home is drat hard. You'd think with so much time off you'd have lots of time to hang out with people, but you quickly realize that everyone else works normal jobs and are usually too tired to go out partying on a tuesday night. CA stationary starts at around $45/hr in SF if you want to go that way. Shift work is exactly 6 months of work and a bunch of vacation and OT worked in.
|
# ? Aug 23, 2012 20:29 |
|
Any of you guys sail on oil/chemical/gas carrier tankships?
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 02:13 |
|
nwin posted:Any of you guys sail on oil/chemical/gas carrier tankships? I've been on oil, Fish Salami has been on oil/lng.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 04:08 |
|
nwin posted:Any of you guys sail on oil/chemical/gas carrier tankships? I hope you like rules and no drinking.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 04:20 |
|
Fish Shalami posted:I hope you like rules and no drinking. This is also true on bulk carriers Well, ok, not so much the rules.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 04:48 |
|
I work on a product tanker that's theoretically rated for chemicals, but we only ever carry clean oil.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 05:55 |
|
Chevron has wet ships still but can't do anything about rules and paperwork. Box boats are nice cause they are almost always wet.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 11:26 |
|
nwin posted:Any of you guys sail on oil/chemical/gas carrier tankships? Im an engineer on a 49000dwt products tanker. Its pretty good, as a third you get about $140,000AUD and work 6 weeks on 6 off.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 14:03 |
|
Fish Shalami posted:I hope you like rules and no drinking. No thanks. I'm with the Coast Guard and do Port State Control exams. I'm sure I'll be jumping in here from time to time to pick your brains on why things are the way they are. I just qualified on straight tank ships and will be working on Chemical and Gas carrier quals soon enough.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 18:31 |
|
lightpole posted:Chevron has wet ships still but can't do anything about rules and paperwork. Box boats are nice cause they are almost always wet. The LNG ships I was on were wet ships, but they were foreign flagged so that's kind of an exception. We actually had a section on our officer evaluation which rated how social we were at the bar hour after work each night...which translates into whether or not you drank with the Captain and C/E
|
# ? Aug 24, 2012 23:22 |
|
For anyone interested, Great Lakes Warriors is on right now on History channel. From the intro, it looks like over dramatized reality drivel, but then I've never worked on a tug, so what do I know. And of course, they used The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, jazzed up, for the opening theme.
|
# ? Aug 28, 2012 02:03 |
|
Ohullo there, Tropical Storm Isaac . Turned a two day sea voyage into six days. At least it was interesting. I keep staring in envy at all of the container ships cruising by. I hear they have time to actually leave the ship in port
|
# ? Aug 29, 2012 14:34 |
|
Stratafyre posted:I keep staring in envy at all of the container ships cruising by. I hear they have time to actually leave the ship in port Hey, anybody wanna chip in for a trip to Wal-Mart?
|
# ? Aug 29, 2012 15:19 |
|
Hey folks. Just found this thread and am thinking about a career on the engineering side. I recently got out of the Coast Guard where I was a fireman. Basically an oiler/wiper. I have a lot of mechanical training and shipboard firefighting, etc. I'm not going to ask if I can skip certs, that's dumb. No one will let me. I'm good with getting what I need to get to be legally employed. I'm also not really interested in going to a maritime academy of any kind/I don't want to be an officer. I'd rather go to some type of machinery trade school. Also, I'm 30. What I am going to ask is: 1 Will my CG experience help me land a job, even if I only received a general discharge (UHC)? 2 What type of money will I make starting as a wiper? http://www.mfoww.org/wage.htm Is what I've found but 15/hr seems really high to wipe up oil. 3 Can I start out in engineering or do I have to be on the deck side first? These will have to do for starters. I'm sure more will come up.
|
# ? Aug 29, 2012 20:27 |
|
afk/bandito posted:Hey folks. Just found this thread and am thinking about a career on the engineering side. I recently got out of the Coast Guard where I was a fireman. Basically an oiler/wiper. I have a lot of mechanical training and shipboard firefighting, etc. I'm not going to ask if I can skip certs, that's dumb. No one will let me. I'm good with getting what I need to get to be legally employed. I'm also not really interested in going to a maritime academy of any kind/I don't want to be an officer. I'd rather go to some type of machinery trade school. Also, I'm 30. Wage is right. You should be able to get your documents pretty easily. Engineering and deck are two different ladders. The stewards department is the third but gently caress that. You can find a wipers job pretty easily but its not like that translates into any real experience. I would recommend going in as an officer even if you only sail unlicensed. You will have a much higher rate, better skills and more opportunity. Box boats get maybe 8-18 hours in port generally. Tankers spend a lot of time in port. MFU is a decent union, electricians and reefers can make more than 3rds, 17k a month or so. lightpole fucked around with this message at 07:52 on Aug 30, 2012 |
# ? Aug 30, 2012 07:50 |
|
poo poo thread voted 1 posted:Is this the right thread to ask about working on an offshore oil platform? 'Cause I want to do that. Not really so much maritime transportation related, but.. If you want to work offshore you've got two options: 1) Drilling engineer A lot of oil companies will hire field drilling engineers that sort of sit on the rig and babysit, read out emails, pretend to care in safety meetings, and record performance parameters (or sometimes do more real work). 2) Service companies Based on your post it looks like you want more of the hands on work, look into service companies like Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Weatherford, Halliburton, etc.. The more technology driven companies would eat up someone with as much education as you. Positions you might look into include: mwd, directional drilling, mudlogging, drilling fluids, cementing, coiled tubing, wireline, completions, etc
|
# ? Sep 3, 2012 22:13 |
|
Edit: Holy poo poo, I made the mistake of watching another episode of Great Lakes Warrior. I say this as someone who routinely watch TLC: It's the worst reality show ever.
FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 06:46 on May 13, 2013 |
# ? Sep 3, 2012 22:35 |
|
Any goons working out of Aberdeen at the moment? The weather is crazy nice today, so I'm not regretting not requesting a transfer to more southern climes. Bet I'll change my tune when the autumn storms come though.
|
# ? Sep 4, 2012 13:20 |
|
Almost quit again today This Captain is going to do whatever it takes to drive me off, and I don't think he's even doing it intentionally. It's like working with a belligerent Rainman.
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 06:31 |
|
At least he's not doing it intentionally. Hang in there, don't take it personally, and if you need to vent feel free to PM. In a couple months you'll be laughing about it. Make sure you get plenty of entertainment on your time off, too. Movies, games, whatever. I know when I make the mistake of neglecting entertainment, I get really loving mad over stupid BS like that.
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 06:35 |
|
FrozenVent posted:At least he's not doing it intentionally. I'm pretty sure he's being an rear end in a top hat intentionally, I just don't think he's trying to drive me off the ship. This is my third work tour with the guy, I kept hoping my rotation would put me on with the other captain, but no dice. I only get about two hours off a day, an hour of which I spend at the gym I'm sure I'll last until October, and after this work tour, I'm informing the office that they will be sending me to a different ship.
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 06:52 |
|
Stratafyre posted:I'm sure I'll last until October, and after this work tour, I'm informing the office that they will be sending me to a different ship. That's always the best exchange with the office. They probably already know he's a dick, anyway - Every company has at least one of those guys.
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 06:54 |
|
FrozenVent posted:That's always the best exchange with the office. They probably already know he's a dick, anyway - Every company has at least one of those guys. Yeah, and the HR lady loves me, so I don't think it'll be too big of a deal. And if it is? Well, I'll have my second mate's license, I'd like to think I can find something else at this point.
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 06:55 |
|
Stratafyre posted:Yeah, and the HR lady loves me, so I don't think it'll be too big of a deal. And if it is? Well, I'll have my second mate's license, I'd like to think I can find something else at this point. Oh yeah. I decided to change companies this spring, best decision I ever made, and a guy posted on my FB after I bitched about a contract getting cut short... Something like "Can't get XYZ to hire you back?" Bitch, I don't want them to hire me back. I'll just take another one of those offers from the pile. Of course, saying that, potential job A is waffling right now, potential job B hasn't sent me an email in two weeks, I should probably get back to potential job C, but I'm sitting doing nothing. On the bright side, cable provider decided it was free Lifetime Television month, so... FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 07:24 on Sep 5, 2012 |
# ? Sep 5, 2012 06:58 |
|
FrozenVent posted:Oh yeah. I decided to change companies this spring, best decision I ever made, and a guy posted on my FB after I bitched about a contract getting cut short... Something like "Can't get XYZ to hire you back?" I'm considering trying to join AMO again. I'm so drat jealous of the SIU guys on this ship. At any point, they can pretty much just say "You're an rear end in a top hat, I'm leaving." and immediately go get a new job.
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 07:00 |
|
Per posted:Any goons working out of Aberdeen at the moment? The weather is crazy nice today, so I'm not regretting not requesting a transfer to more southern climes. Bet I'll change my tune when the autumn storms come though. I might go on a spot marked PSV in Aberdeen just waiting for confirmation from the office
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 23:24 |
|
Trench_Rat posted:I might go on a spot marked PSV in Aberdeen just waiting for confirmation from the office I'm on a contracted PSV. Gets kind of boring going back and forth to the same platform, although they did just break up the routine by sending us to get mud in Peterhead. SO exciting...
|
# ? Sep 5, 2012 23:31 |
|
SIU doesn't make enough to bother going out to sea. There are other options than AMO. Ugh, 2 weeks to go. I hit a mental wall this trip, definitely ready to get off.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2012 10:46 |
|
So if you guys could do it all over again would you go to a top school for Business or go to a Maritime Academy?
|
# ? Sep 6, 2012 13:55 |
|
FilMoolah posted:So if you guys could do it all over again would you go to a top school for Business or go to a Maritime Academy? If I could only go back in time and send this link to my younger self... Nah, I'd probably do it again, especially now that there's a faint flickering light at the end of the tunnel. Probably try to have a different attitude going in; when the cadet dispatchers at school said attitude is everything, boy were they right.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2012 15:19 |
|
I don't know. My starting wage is higher than most people will top out at, Im looking at $150kish/year if I really want to sail 1st. I can do $120ish no problem shoreside or move just about any direction with the skills and experience from here. Not bad considering I haven't had a 3.0 my entire academic career. But school is not fun and neither is the industry. My chief said he vomited the second he arrived back at Kings Point from his sea year. It really is that bad sometimes. There are plenty of options ashore that pay well, the most important thing is to be an engineer and then go back for an MBA if you think you need it.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2012 18:15 |
|
|
# ? May 18, 2024 18:13 |
|
lightpole posted:the most important thing is to be an engineer lightpole posted:the most important thing is to be an engineer lightpole posted:the most important thing is to be an engineer lightpole posted:the most important thing is to be an engineer lightpole posted:the most important thing is to be an engineer lightpole posted:the most important thing is to be an engineer It's true. And school was the least horrible part of training, I have to say. Some of my sea tours were... Ugh. I still haven't broken that record 21 hour day from my cadet time. Got paid a whole $30 for that, too!
|
# ? Sep 6, 2012 18:40 |