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This is the thread about commercial vessels, and the very awesome people who work on them. Not to be mistaken with the Working on Cruise Ships thread; that’s about people getting paid to drink on a boat. FAQ What kind of jobs do you do on a boat? It depends on your position. Here’s a quick rundown: Deck Department Captain: The Big Boss, sole master after God and the email account. He’s legally in charge of the vessel, meaning he does a lot of paperwork and does the ship handling. He’ll also come up to the bridge to help the officers if they get swamped, or if things get complicated. 1st Mate: In charge of maintenance, stability and cargo handling. Works like a dog, yells like a bitch. If the captain dies, he takes over. Stands a watch, just like the other mates. Does a shitload of paperwork. Hopes to make Captain some day. 2nd Mate: Navigation. Plans the voyages, programs and "fix" the navigation equipment, all that good stuff. Does a metric shitton of paperwork. Sometime hopes to make 1st mate some day. 3rd Mate: Takes care of the safety equipment. Extinguishers, life boats and whatnot. Usually the least experienced mate, but not always. Hopes to make 2nd mate some day... Usually. A/B: Able seaman, wheelsman, bridge watchman, what have you. Those are the guys who actually drive the boat, under the watchful direction of the officers. When in port, they either help with cargo handling or stand gangway watch. They’re more experienced than OS’s. A normal ship will usually have three. Ordinary seaman: Your basic entry position. The guys who paint, handle mooring lines, chip rust, paint, mop, paint, open and close hatches, paint, and handle hull and bulkhead coating application. Engine Department (Shamelessly stolen from Two Finger) Chief Engineer - the Chief is basically responsible for every system on board the ship. They'll hold what's known as a MEC1 certificate which is about 10 years worth of study (including sea time). They make all of the major decisions about what happens to the machinery on board - overhauling, replacement, repairs, etc. 2nd Engineer - My understanding is these guys look at the engine on a longer term than a 3rd does - monitor trends rather than immediate temperatures, etc. They will hold a MEC2. 3rd Engineer - Generally these guys are the ones that make sure stuff actually works. My brother is currently working as one and he tells me his day to day life is monitoring and checking. The ships, generally speaking, are pretty reliable and all he has to do is keep an eye on temperatures, fuel consumption, etc. Again, as with the 3rd mate, they are a watchkeeping officer and experienced enough to work on their own but not really experienced enough to make decisions on their own. They usually hold a MEC3 sometimes a 4th - basically a deputy 3rd, will also usually hold a MEC3 but it varies on the type of ship. Most of the ships I’ve been on had fourth engineers. They also have engine room rating, guys who help the engineers and, you guessed it, paint the engine room. I myself am a deck officer, so if anybody wants to suggest better information about the downstairs people, go ahead. There's also a catering department, with cooks. They do the cooking. Is it like the Navy? With the ranks and all? A guy called me Lieutenant once; I spent a whole minute looking around trying to figure out who he was talking to. There’s a hierarchy, but it’s pretty informal. Unless somebody fucks up. That sounds awesome! How do I get a job like that? It’s a bit complicated, and it depends what country you’re in. Before a maritime company will even look at you, you’ll need Seaman’s documents (Known as MMDs in the states, discharge books everywhere else), which can be obtained from your local maritime authority, and basic safety training of some sort. Namely, the STCW Basic Safety Training course (Wet stuff goes on hot stuff! Wet stuff is COLD! Wet stuff no good in lungs! Duuuuur!) and marine first aid training. Armed with your safety training and discharge book, you can now try to find a job. Joining a union usually helps, connections help a lot too. Note that you still have no clue on how to be a deckhand, hence why companies are not so eager to hire you. If you have the right attitude, you'll do well anyway. I'd really like to go to see for a gap year / free trip oversea. I have no experience at sea, but lots of experience in (IT, manual labor, food services, acccordion making), how do I go about this? Short answer: You don't. It's not worth it if you're not shipping out for 3 - 5 years. Long answer: Before any company will even be ALLOWED to look at you, you need seaman's papers. These will run you up about 100$ and take a few months. You also need a passport, but everyone has one by now. Otherwise... 150$ or so? Anyway, fiddlestick. Medical exam, valid two years, assuming you pass, 200$. Marine first aid course (In Canada) 400$. Already had basic / advanced / wildlife first aid? Too bad, get on your knee and kiss that mannequin. So here you are, six months later, about 1000$ in the hole, and shipping companies could possibly hire you without getting fined. Are you a competitive candidate? HELL NO. To be seriously considered, you'd need at least basic STCW. Three weeks or so, 3000$ or so. There's usually a six months waiting list, depending. Oh yeah, get some work gear. 500$ is a good starting budget, 1000$ if there's any chance you'll work in the winter. Alright, you got that. Now go join a union. 500$ joining fees, 65$ a month. Now go sit in the hall and wait for a job call. What's that you say? All the guys with tons of experience and seniority are taking all the good jobs? Then once they're gone Captains are refusing you because you don't know a cargo hold from a Focs'tle store? You're stuck in the hall for a month or more? Looks like you're going to have to take the poo poo job shoveling crap out of ballast tanks! Awesome! Now after two months of that (8000 thousand after taxes, maybe) you go back to the hall, and there's finally an interesting job open! Three months, going around the world! Oh but by now you have to go back to college. So that whole life experience, where you spent two months shoveling mud out of a dank, dirty ballast tank only to come up and get mocked by your crewmates because you're the FNG college kid, probably netted you about 2000$, net, assuming you had no travelling and living expenses to go to the hall / training. Worth it? You decide. (Note: If you actually are trying to start a career, this counts as experience and reputation building. And your co-workers won't mock you nearly as much. The initial investment is also higher than what you'd normally spend in a year.) But you don't understand, I wanted to take a free ride accross the Atlantic so I could go backpacking in Europe... And I just described the process you had to follow. There's no telling wether you'll be able to snatch that cross-Atlantic job. Heck, I shipped out for two years as an officer before I got to cross the Atlantic. And if anything, the company doesn't want to feed and pay someone they'll have to replace in bumfuck nowhere, east Europe. There's also the small matter of "Change of orders"... Scew painting, I wanna be an officer / engineer! What do I need to do? Learn to paint. There are two paths to becoming a licensed officer or engineer: the school path, and the experience path. Both involve painting. If you go to school, you go to college for four years to get a diploma in boats (Or a degree, depends on the school. I have a technical college diploma). The program I did was six semesters and twelve months at sea as a cadet. A cadet is kind of like an intern, except more desperate. After all that, you can go to your friendly local certifying authority and ask nicely for a license. Chances are they’ll have you write a couple exams on very useful stuff (Such as morse and flag communications for deck officers), then give you the paper. If you decide to start out as a deckhand, you’ll need to find a job as a deckhand, then complete – IIRC – 24 months of sea time, a certain amount of that as an AB or Engine Room Rating. Then you’ll need to take a simulator course and more emergency response training... And finally you can go and write exams, all about very important subjects. Lots of exams. Then congrats, you’ve got your license. (This takes about 5, 6 years, from what I’ve seen) That’s the license to be a 3rd / 2nd mate or 4th / 3rd engineer, by the way. If you want to go up, there’s more sea time and more exams to be had. Figure at least five years after your OOW to make Captain. If you have no life. Is there a lot of jobs? It depends directly on the state of the economy. When the economy’s good, you can’t get any time off. When the economy’s bad, it gets slightly less insane. There’s a gigantic shortage of qualified maritime labor, and it’s only going to get worst. How’s the pay?  How’s the lifestyle?  So ask away; there’s a few mariners on SA, so someone's bound to know the answer to your question. Otherwise, I’ll gladly make one up. Edit: lightpole posted:I can post about the 3rd on my last cruise dying in India and making less money as a 3rd than electrician. Please do. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 04:41 on May 13, 2013 |
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Feb 28, 2011 18:05
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J Corp posted:There are a few more oddball positions out there, which I'll get into later. I'm currently Oiler, and I'm about 40 days short of being able to take my Junior Engineers test. I've been sailing Deep Sea, but intend to take my next job on the Great Lakes. If anybody has any questions, feel free to ask. I've spent a lot of time on the lakes (Canadian side) in the last few years. It gets... Repetitive, and it's cold as gently caress in the winter. Money's pretty good, tho, and it's all fresh water. poo poo doesn't rust nearly as fast.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:21
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J Corp posted:I'm shooting for a Converyorman gig, working in the tunnel on a coal/ore boat. I actually have to call the union tomorrow and find out if fit-out jobs have started to come in yet. I really don't want to go back to work yet, but I'm trying to get my foot in the door up there and don't want to miss any opportunities. Tunnelman's pretty much the worst job. It's noisy, cramped, dangerous as gently caress, noisy, dusty, noisy and dirty. Oh, and you'll need ear protection. (Can you tell how much I hate noise?) It's not a bad job, it's just definetly not a cushy one. You're working pretty much through the unload, but otherwise it's a bit of maintenance and cleaning here and there. Money's pretty good, hours are alright as long as you're not unloading. The canadian boats are going to start fitting out at the end of March (Maybe a bit earlier for the engine / tunnel crew); I don't know about the Americans. If you were Canadian, I'd tell you not to worry too much before June, that's usually when the steady guys take leave and relief jobs open up... But on the Canadian side, anyway, there's always room for tunnelmen. I know nothing about the American side, however. It could be entirely different. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Mar 1, 2011 |
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Feb 28, 2011 23:36
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^^^^ What the gently caress, that's a lot of people. Don't seismic boats just make long lines in the water? Why the need for the extra manpower? And you might want to avoid naming the ships you're on. Waroduce posted:So if I'm looking to travel or do something different right out of college is this a good idea? I don't care about being in lovely locations, on a boat, or being worked like a dog all day if the pay is decent. Painting/Wiping all day is fine with me and I've talked to several people who say that the pay is pretty great and you have periods of serious downtime that are co mingled with periods of frantic activity. In between the paperwork, medical exam and safety training, I don't think it's worth it for just a few months. In Canada, you're looking at 3000-4000 bucks just to get started, and that's with no guarantee of a job. If you think it's something you might want to do for a year and up, go for it. It's a pretty lovely way to travel, and it's not AN ADVENTURE!!!!!!, but as long as you understand it's primarily a job, it can be interesting.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:45
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^^^^ How do they figure two extra deck officer will help with black outs? Is the ship DP? Office people...  camino posted:I'm currently working my way through one of the academies. It depends on the economy. License + pulse is pretty good, at least until they figure out how to license zombies. (I'm sure they're working on it.) I had HR hounding me to go take the drat oral already; I shipped out a week after I got my license. Prior experience counts for a lot on the deck side, especially regarding ship type - I don't have any tanker experience, so tanker companies won't even look at me. But for levels of experience, for a junior job, heh. It'll give you an edge over the next guy, if there's a next guy. As for qualifying, in my experience if it's your first job out of school the other watches will go six and six or the guy you relieved will stick around for a week or so. Once you've proven you're not a gigantic shithead and know to call for help before you're up to your neck in crap, they'll leave you alone. Alternatively, the crew is composed of people who don't give a gently caress or who already know you. In which case you'll be alone on the first watch. So yeah, expect to be by yourself inside of a few days after starting out. Next boat, somebody gives you a tour and you're pretty much on your own on the first day. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Feb 28, 2011 |
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Feb 28, 2011 23:57
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magpie posted:I'm currently packing my bags, is there anything you experienced folks can think of to bring other than the obvious clothes, laptop and documents? Tons and tons of socks. If you figure you'll need 5 pairs, bring 12. A set of long underwear (Good pajamas, and the basis of any good cold winter gear if it gets cold). Immodium. Ex-lax. Extra deodorant. I wouldn't go so far as to bring my own pillow, but that's up to you. Soap and laundry soap are usually supplied by the company, but I wouldn't rely on their bar soap. It's usually cheap as gently caress. Maybe pack an extra toothbrush, in case yours goes flying off the shelf and land in the toilet. (True story) Expect to pack heavy your first few trips, eventually you figure out what you really need, and what you can leave behind. Don't rely on the slop chest; most of the ships I've been on didn't even have them. The others... Heh, one had booze at really good prices, the cruise ship had really overpriced laundry soap. magpie posted:Any magical cures for seasickness? How badly and how long does it usually effect you if at all? Have you ever known anyone to not get over it? (despite the million ways to die on a tanker this is what I am most nervous about) Gravol. Personally, Bonamine makes me sick, but the crew on a ferry I worked on swore by it... Be careful with Gravol, it does make you drowsy. I get sea sick pretty often (Like at least once a year). Eventually you figure out what kind of motion makes you sea sick, and you figure out when it's coming... You can deal. There's a particular sort of headache I get that means i should pop a Gravol. The worst time, I was still a cadet... We were in the North Sea, in February, and when I printed out the weather fax at 0400, we were right on the R in STORM. Holy gently caress. We had a goddamn load of steel on, so we were getting tossed 35 degrees to each side every minute, for three days straight. I spent about three days knocked out in my cabin, praying for death. Jammed my immersion suit under the mattress so the angle would force me against the wall, and let everything else lay were it fell. By the end of that mess, seven guys out of a crew of 21 still managed to work. Oh, and the Captain's wife.. Everyone else were on their asses, puking and puking and ohgodpleaseletmedie. magpie posted:Do you have to join your ships in uniform? Uniforms vary a lot depending on corporate culture. A lot of companies don't even have them, some wear them all the time, some it's just to dinner... Personally, I've never worn them on a cargo ship. Check with somebody who's worked for the same company. There's bound to be a guy around your school who has. magpie posted:Is it true that lifeboats have killed more people than they have saved? Lifeboat drills are the most dangerous operation on a merchant ship. You'll figure out why pretty soon. WATCH YOUR loving HANDS.
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Mar 1, 2011 03:37
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Holy poo poo, that transfer. I thought you were just handing off his body until I read the end of your post; that's just loving scary.lightpole posted:Used my phone as my alarm clock. Oh yeah. The first trip I took, the other cadet (We shared a room  ) had brought a normal electric alarm clock. Two things with that:A) Ships sometime have weird electricity, like they were built in Europe or some poo poo B) That ship had a problematic engine plant. No fault of the engineers, it was just an old plant. They tried to used the shaft alternator a lot (SAVE DIESEL!) or something, and we had black outs all the time. Like once or twice a week. I think there was either a voltage or frequency gently caress up as well, because the alarm clock went insane after a while. (Cue the engineers going crazy on how I don't know the first thing about electricity) But you have to watch out, cell phones will sometime grab the time and time zone from the local signal. If the ship isn't on the same time zone, well you either just lost an hour of sleep, or you're an hour late. The bestest thing is a battery powered alarm clock, but mine flew off a shelf and died, so the cell phone does the job. And I second the Kindle. I got one last year, that thing is just loving awesome. I also got a small LCD tv / DVD player convo for a job on a boat where I had a couch in my room... Add gigantic bags of sunflower seeds and that was the pimpest things ever got. (I even kept the bolts I used to secure the TV. Hey, the holes are already drilled in the stand, might as well keep them around.) Of course, carrying a TV around is, um, a bad idea if you're flying. lightpole posted:You are an idiot. The polite term is "Cadet". FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 04:49 on May 13, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2011 05:35
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lightpole posted:Most ships run 220v power for sockets. If you see a weird looking plug with two round holes you are looking at a 220v power source. Dont plug in your 110v cord to these outlets. Just because you are studying to be a mate does not mean you have to be ignorant. Yeah, that ship had every engine problems imaginable. I wasn't there, but I heard rumors that few years later a piston just went through the engine head. They eventually gave up and re-engined the drat thing. I've seen quite a few ships with 110V power throughout the accomodations; in doubt ask the engineers. Really, if it's power or machinery related and you're in doubt, ask the engineers before you gently caress it up. How much of an impact does have shaft generator have on the engine load? That ship was the only one I've worked on that had one.
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Mar 1, 2011 06:55
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^^^^ At least you have a control room. I've been on a ship where the engine log book was on a table by the engine, old school. I'm not sure where they kept the coffee machine, but they usually hung out in the work shop. The bridge on that thing was also ridiculously small, and mostly unheated. lightpole posted:Its not hard to tell the difference between 110 and 220. You have 2 flat blades or 2 round prongs. I've gotten 220v out of a flat blade socket. I think it's the Japanese standard or something. (Ship was built in Japan, anyway) FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 15:24 on Mar 1, 2011 |
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Mar 1, 2011 15:13
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an adult beverage posted:How are the family lives of crew members? It seems hard to maintain a family with a lifestyle like that. Yeah, it's pretty hard. People have a hard time understanding that when I say "I'm going back to work, see you in three months.", it means I won't be around, or even easily reachable, for three months. And then when I come back, I'm gonna want to sleep because it's been three months since I've had a day off. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2011 17:29
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Edit - NM
FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2011 19:06
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Trench_Rat posted:SIMAC? Did not know about it untill the 2nd year of college, and only Denmark (Maersk) and France acknowledge dual certificates anyway. For engineers its no problem to get cadet placement (I was the last one in my class to get one about a month before graduation). For some of the deck officers it can be hard to get a cadet placement one of my roomates applied at 38 shipping compaines before he got one. Yeah, everyone wants engineering cadets, because everyone's out of engineers. But then they're also out of deck officers. Seriously, the first year after I finished schools, I had five unsollicited job offers. In one case, I actually asked the HR rep where he'd gotten my number...
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Mar 4, 2011 03:42
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localized posted:I will be attending one of the East Coast academies at the end of the summer. I was on the fence about whether to go engineering or deck, but I ultimately decided to apply for the deck program. What you are saying and what I have heard from friends is that there is a greater demand for engineers. But I guess that doesnt mean that the job market is going to be the same four or five years from now anyways. I don't know about the American job market specifically. The worldwide job market has a gigantic shortage of both deck and engine officers, and that's not going away anytime soon. That said, Engineers will always be more in demand simply because there are more jobs ashore for them, at power plants and the like. Two Finger posted:Out of curiosity what makes you decide to go for deck? Enjoys sunlight?
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Mar 27, 2011 09:58
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localized posted:I love engines and industrial stuff, but as FrozenVent said I would rather be outside than cooped up in the bottom. I am thinking I am going to do a minor in the engineering side so I can have experience in both departments. The guy who I interviewed with at the academy said I could always switch my major anyways, and my sister's boyfriend who is also a deckie said your first semster is the same for everyone anyways. I don't know about your program, but there was no loving way to do a minor in the one I did. The navigation (Or nautical science, or maritime transportation, or whatever the gently caress your school calls it - Filling the boat and pointing it the right way) curriculum is just too dense to fit anything else in there. Same with engineering, except worst. Of course, every school is different. But yeah, as far as I know a lot of American schools have both programs do some coursework together in the beginning. We didn't, it was straight up "This is a rope! This is how you tie a rope!" from the beginning, while the engineers had "This is a wrench! This is how you turn a wrench! Now let's calculate the exact amount of tension being exerted at every centimeter of the wrench!" "I wanna be outside" isn't a valid reason to chose engineering, btw. Engineers are much, much more versatile in their qualifications and more in demand. They also deal with less paperwork BS, and stupid as gently caress overtime. You still have time to change your major, so consider it carefully, and keep in mind that only about 5% of your classmates will ever make Captain. If that. (You know that old "Look at the student on your right. Look at the student on your left. Only one of you three will graduate this program" shtick? They didn't do that when I started, but out of a matriculating class of 60, 23 graduated.) In any case, marine engineering can be a very good and fullfilling career, no matter what I say. If I had to start over again, I'd think long and hard about it. Then probably still go deck, because the coursework is easier, and gently caress effort. There's also many days where I loving wish I was inside, in the engine room, where it's warm and there's light and no loving snow in my buttcrack. localized posted:Do you guys get your work through unions or do you search out work on your own? Depends on the country. In theory, my union is supposed to find me work, but in practice I just start calling companies when I get bored. Those calls vary from "Hi, I'm Frozenvent, I have this license and this much experience, here's my number. Would you like a copy of my resume?" to "Hey, this is Frozenvent, I'm looking, call me back." It really depends on if they need someone RIGHT NOW. Facebook can also help, surprisingly. Generally, the time elapsed from "Yeah, I should get back to work" to "Alright, I got the conn" is 6 - 10 days. There's also the dreaded rush call, where you get woken up at the ungodly hour of 10 AM by a sweet-voiced HR rep who's wondering if you had plan for that week... (Spoiler: You no longer do, unless you were planning to be on a boat within 72 hours.) We used to joke that holding a crayon in your fist and writing "I HAZ CHIEF MATE LICENSE GIMME JOB" on a blank sheet of paper and sending that in as a resume was enough... I honnestly got what became my first job as an officer with a cover letter asking the HR representative to give me a job, so I wouldn't have to go back to my soul-killing previous job, and I'd heard they had dental, and my molar really hurts. Now, with the economy, you have to type everything and use grammar and poo poo. Don't worry about finding a job yet, tho. (Chances are, the job will find YOU. It certainly found me after I graduated...) FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Mar 27, 2011 |
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Mar 27, 2011 15:17
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angryhampster posted:For the type of work (stressful, long hours, away from family for long periods), is the pay worth it? Would would an entry-level deckhand be making? An entry level ordinary seaman in Canada makes something like 6 - 9K a month, depending on overtime and that probationary pay thing they've got. As to wether it's worth it... Heh, it depends. I don't have a familly and I'm single (  ) so 60K a year with six months off is not bad. I've heard it compared to being in jail. You decide if it's worth it.kdabr posted:So what does a daily schedule aboard one of these ships look like? And how's the food? The two most common watch schedules are 4 on, 8 off or six and six. Plus overtime, of course. I'd say an average work day is easily around 11 hours if you're on 4/8/4, usually around 12 hours if you're on 6/6. There's the occasional sixteen hour day, of course. The food... Heh. It ranges from "Five star restaurant" to "I'm gonna buy Kraft Dinner next time we make port", with the average in my experience being somewhere around "high school cafeteria" There's usually plenty of it, tho. There have been cases of crewmembers having pizza delivered via the pilot launch, however. Make of that what you will. somethingawesomer posted:I try not to think of all the horrible things that can happen to her on a ship. You sound like my mother. Your girlfriend's safe, she has access to laundry, and she eats her fill every day the cook doesn't gently caress up. Calm down. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Mar 28, 2011 05:08
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goku chewbacca posted:I'm not really understanding completely with all the acronyms and maritime jargon and various education and career paths and positions. Most of the acronyms are American unions, I don't know what the gently caress either. goku chewbacca posted:Let's say I'm not interested in going to any more university, but wouldn't object to a couple of years of technical education. On the job would be even better...through a walk-on apprenticeship and then sitting for exams and certifications sounds perfect. How soon can I be making $US60-70k? What does it take to make $100k+? Where does it top out after that? Do the captains get to keep smoking hot wives in every port? There's no "Walk in apprentice" in most companies, you just magically turn into an ordinary seaman. A very incompetent one, but that's not your fault really... The system is broken. Be prepared to chip, paint, shovel and eat poo poo of every form for a few years. It takes at least four years from that to get a license, but a lot of people end up staying at the OS level... It IS possible to make 70K at that level, if you're working tons of overtime. IE, the Great Lakes. 100K is usually at the Chief Mate level and up. You can have a hot wife in every port if you want, they charge about 100$ an hour. Bring your own condoms. goku chewbacca posted:Sounds like its more common to find short contracts, return home, then find your next job when you're feeling bored/broke. Is it uncommon to be employed permanently with the same company, or the same ship and crew? It's common in a way - They're called permanent positions. It just takes year to get one, because you have to wait for someone to die. I think the average age here slants young. To give you an idea, I've been shipping out as an officer for three and a half years, and I was offered a permanent position once last year, in a desperate bid by the company to fill a berth. goku chewbacca posted:It also sounds like a significant portion of the year is spent not working. Despite all the down time, are the salaries so high because you're paid hourly and working so much overtime? The hourly rates are good, even if you just get paid for the hours you actually work. The rest of your time on the boat is unpaid. You do have to work weekend, overtime and so on, so it adds up. Salaries are high because, well, if I could make comparable money ashore working six months a year... (Note: You can't work all year. I've met people who worked 9 - 10 months a year for a few years, it hosed them up seriously in the psychological sense.) goku chewbacca posted:Also, spending months on end in close quarters with the same (more likely) men sounds like it could be challenging. What's the social environment like? Please don't be offended, but I imagine reactionary conservative blue-collar types are common. Would women, minorities, gays, or people with non-conforming beliefs/personalities find the environment confrontational and uncomfortable? You've got your conservative blue collar, your sports fan, your idiots, your liberals, name it. You don't see too many religious people, or if they are they keep it quiet. Gay, female, krishna, anime lover, neo-nazi, it's all ok as long as you don't make a loving show of it. I'm stuck with some guy for eight hours a day for a few months, I can only take so much blabbing and blabbing about the SS, you know? As long as you respect your co-workers, keep your spergin' to yourself unless asked about it (Watches can get boring), have some sort of sense of humor and don't cause drama, anything goes. You can be a square peg as long as you don't stick up above the board, your know? Then you're just gonna be the thing people focus their irrational anger on, instead of the usuals (The food, the weather, their wife, whatever) Eventually you develop "Boat social skills", as opposed to normal people social skills. These includes knowing which seat to take in the mess, how to disarm or cause a situation that would be reported as "Assault and death threat" ashore, and knowing what to say when you walk onto a bunch of dudes watching a porn video together. lightpole posted:From my experience with academy girls and his whining Im betting she is twice the man he is. Yeah, I wonder what her reactions would be if she saw that post. HORRIBLE THINGS! Also loving this: quote:It's not for everyone, pretty much everyone I know thinks I'm insane for putting up with all this. While I understand the sentiment... FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Mar 28, 2011 10:07
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Two Finger posted:Yeah, I still laugh about the time the chief elec choked me out on the floor of the bar, but everyone I've told the story to back home thinks 1) i'm insane 2) he's a murderer. It was just a good laugh. "He Hurts Me Because He Loves Me: The Cadet's Manual" Edit: By "Choked me out" do you mean until you actually passed out? Because if so, that might be a bit over the line.
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Mar 28, 2011 10:52
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I'd definetly like to have more engineering knowledge, but I don't know how I'd feel about someone doing both jobs at the same time, or even alternatively... I've worked with enough idiots who could barely handle a single job. But I guess at the 3rd Mate / 4th Engineer level, you're basically a highly trained monkey...
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Mar 28, 2011 12:48
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somethingawesomer posted:Regarding my post above, it's pretty much all the stuff she's told me (repeatedly..). I've obviously never been on these ships. The way she's described it to me is that it's very dangerous, people losing digits and stuff, falls, slips, and no doctors or anyone onboard?? Losing fingers isn't that horrible by any sense of the word; nobody dies from that. If you're close enough to port, they can even be reattached... I'd say 10-20% of merchant seamen are missing a finger or part of one, or had one rebuilt surgically. It's big deal, and it thankfully doesn't even happen that often anymore. Never happened while I was around, anyway... Slips and fall are a problem if you're not careful, but the worst that can come out of it is a bent back and a few months on your rear end ashore. It sucks, but it's not gonna kill you. The same thing could happen in a power plant ashore, it's the number 1 leading cause of workplace accidents. As for the no doctor, as lightpole says, we have someone with medical training and we call for medical advice if something big comes up. (I have that training  I got to stitch a piece of ham back together once.) There's even a code we can use if the doctor can't speak English. Plus if she's sailing up and down the coast of the US, she's never out of USCG helicopter range. Say what you want about the USCG, they got spiffy helicopters.Fun fact: The International Code of Signal has a three letter code for "The patient has runny yellowish diarreah with feces ressembling rice water." It's MIP. somethingawesomer posted:I'm surprised to see how people describe it, she's always told me it's full of douchebags. Now I kind of feel like a tool for worrying so much. It's full of douchebags, but we're NICE douchebags. lightpole posted:The 2nd mate or one of the other mates is usually designated as the medical officer and has some medical training. They are supplemented by the company/medical offices shoreside if they run into a situation they need help with. We're supposed to be able to handle basic stuff and stabilize the casualty. There was always an urban legend going around school that they'd teach us to take out someone's appendix... Doctor just told us to stuff them full of antibiotics and hope for the best. We do have scalpels, retractors, catgut stitching kits and all that good stuff. poo poo'd have to be pretty dire for me to cut someone open and start rooting around in there, tho. lightpole posted:If people lose it mentally they can be locked in their stateroom or some such measure and put under guard before being put off at the next port. I was getting my safety familiarization on an overcrewed, not in an hurry ship once, and when we got to the hospital the third mate said, and I quote, "For those of you who have heard, THIS YEAR we will have a straitjacket." I tried and tried to find out what the gently caress happened the previous year... lightpole posted:Sorry somethingawesomer, sailors can be pretty strange as it is and the women that get into it are usually not normal. You're saying the men who get into it are normal? Hit an Apex posted:It seems like most of you are cargo.. why not go on passenger ships (cruise, ferry, ro-ro?) ? Passengers ships: You have to wear a uniform and be nice to people, there's tons of office bullshit politics. Also, the pay sucks. Ferry: Boooooo-riiiiiiiing. See also the comments on passengers ships. Ro/Ro: Not common outside of Europe. Generally, Ro/RO are considered cargo vessels, btw. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 05:06 on May 13, 2013 |
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Mar 29, 2011 02:54
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Miss Fats posted:So I'm sure this has been asked but I'm going to anyway because I'm stupid and can't be bothered: Try the cruise ship thread. If you have a bachelor's, you're qualified for youth or cruise staff, you could ship out inside of a couple of months. As an actual seaman, the process is a bit more complex. Check out the OP, it explains why it's probably not worth it for a year. (EDIT: Wooops, I thought it did, I'll have to fix that.) You'd need six months just to get the paperwork and basic safety training in order, in my experience... And that doesn't guarantee you a job. Alternatively, try dinner cruise companies and ferries near wherever you're living. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Mar 29, 2011 |
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Mar 29, 2011 03:37
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lightpole posted:Washington State Ferries are good jobs but they require certain courses for crowd control or something. Getting the required courses isnt that easy. CMAT and HBCM? RCI was handing these out like candy when I was there, HBCM was a CBT, even... I forgot to claim my certificate, I felt bad about that exactly once. Now that I think about it, my CMAT is going to be up in September. It's hard to believe it's been that long already... (Most marine certification has to be renewed every five years; the nature of the college system makes it so that you end up having a shitload of crap to renew inside of a few months every five years. Unless you get a new license before then )...I still have to re-do first aid next year, tho. gently caress my life.
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Mar 29, 2011 05:26
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lightpole posted:There is also day/night work that goes out of the halls. Ships come in to port and either need people to work during the day, assisting with piston pulls, cleaning, doing whatever maintenance the crew cant handle or need someone to stand watch to cover for the ships engineers. The jobs are usually for 8 hours and pay the OT rate so you can make quite a bit of money but the downside is you are paid the same if you are working holidays or OT. If the ship is late or sails early you are still paid for your 8 hours. There are quite a few tricky technical details about that stuff in the contracts so thats basically the gist of it. SIU in Canada calls these guys Extras or MUC (Mobile Utility Crew), and just ships them out as crew. They get paid a pretty good rate, tho, a bit above AB / Oiler. I'm mostly familliar with the other side of union hall hiring, as in putting in job calls, receiving them and seeing them approved. I've seen a few get turned down, it's always hilarious watching the Captain try to come up with a politically correct reason... A Chief Engineer apparently sent one back with "Not this rear end in a top hat, he's an idiot" (Or he wrote "NO ASSHOLES" on the job call, tellings vary), so we had got circular emails about the proper phrasing of union communications...
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Mar 30, 2011 07:57
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I've updated the OP to cover "This would be interesting for a gap year!" and "I'd like a free ticket accross the pond, please!" If anybody wants to rewrite it with less cyniscm, tell me, but right now I feel the level of hatred is juuuuuust right.
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Mar 31, 2011 02:46
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walrusman posted:Thanks for the replies, guys. To clarify where I'm coming from, I'm not looking for a fun diversion or gap year (god I hate that term) bullshit. I'm just sitting on an engineering degree that I can't seem to put to work, and I'm at a phase in my life with few connections and a thirst for -- yeah I'll go ahead and say it -- adventure. It's a good idea if you're looking for an actual career, or something to do while you look for something better - If you think you might be looking for a few years. Having an engineering background would make some of the licensing examinations a lot easier, as well, althought not nearly as much as a diploma in marine engineering / nautical science. In any case, that would be after a few years at sea. There's nothing stopping you from getting your MMD while you work somewhere else, and registering at a nearby union hall. It beats McDonald's, but it makes it a bitch to apply to regular jobs. ("Yeah, can we reschedule the interview for... The month after next?") Miss Fats posted:You explained it pretty well. Thanks. Guess I won't be going to see (for now!). From what you've said, you'd probably do well on a cruise ship; go check out that thread. Cruise staff is a pretty sweet gig if you want to change your horizon for a few months.
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Mar 31, 2011 08:08
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lightpole posted:If you have any practical experience theres plenty of shoreside work. I get job offers from the local stationary engineers union all the time. The pay usually starts around $40/hr with a pension and solid benefits. You can also look through power companies, they are always looking for people to live in some miserable part of the country. whyIshouldhavepickedengineering.txt
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Mar 31, 2011 08:13
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J Corp posted:I don't know how it is in other countries, but in the US we have laws that specifically forbid ships to dump you in foreign countries. These were enacted to prevent companies from ditching sick or injured sailors in some hellhole half way around the world. Unfortunately, it makes no provision for you if you actually WANT to get dumped in some hellhole half way around the world. Every country I've dealt with also had that rule but I always figured that if you had the proper visa and informed the company in writing before hand, nobody would give a gently caress. That's assuming you find a company that's willing to drop you off in the middle of nowhere and FLY IN a replacement. They can't exactly hire locals.
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Apr 1, 2011 05:34
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Heh, it depends where. Most of the place I've been we were allowed to do whatever, even disappear for a day if we could get someone to cover our watch. I haven't been to Asia, however. The worst I've seen with regards to visa and poo poo is, frankly, the United States. It's the only country I've been where I've been photographed and fingerprinted by immigration... In any port, I'd say you have about a 50% chance of being able to get off the boat, between immigration and the goddamn TWIC. They do *not* like foreign seamen. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Apr 1, 2011 06:09
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Christoff posted:I'm in the Navy right now. Just how many of the dudes doing this are prior Navy? I've been sailing since 2004, and I've worked with two guys who were prior navy, out of... I don't know, 200, 250 seamen? This is Canada, mind you. If the navy gave you any STCW certification, good for you, otherwise you'll have to go get them. Then you're still at the back of the line in the Union hall. If you haven't been to sea, then you definetly don't have any sea time, so that's bumpkiss help certificate / license wise. Medical experience... Heh, if you're an officer it might come up once or twice in your career, but what the company needs is someone with a Person in Charge of Medical Care certificate, STCW such and such. (Or whatever the gently caress it's called, I'd have to reach into a drawer to look at it.) They don't actually care about wether or not you can stitch someone back together, as long as you have the paper that says you can. In this domain, your resume doesn't count for much - If you're unlicensed, you still have to wait in line at the Union; if you're looking for work on your own, well... The first page of my resume is a laundry list of certificates and license, with a line about how many years of experience I have on what type of vessels. The second page is a listing of every companies and vessels I've worked for. The offshore industry hires full time medics, I think. I don't know what they need exactly, but that might be worth looking into.
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Apr 1, 2011 11:04
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Edit: Snip, there was a thing here and now it's gone.
FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 05:10 on May 13, 2013 |
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Apr 1, 2011 12:38
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Arnold of Soissons posted:They have those deals where you can buy a room on a freighter and travel as a tourist on a working ship. Anybody have any experience with that? It'll get you from point A to point B, except 15 to 30 times slower than an airplane. The food might or might not be better. The times we had passengers onboard, they weren't allowed anywhere outside except the poop deck without escort; and they had their own mess and TV rooms. They did get a tour of the engine room... But for the price they paid (It was a charity auction thing) I can't see the attraction. But then I do that six months a year. Personally, if you really want to experience crossing an ocean at sea level, I'd wait for a cruise ship repositionning. They're incredibly cheap, and much more comfortable. They also have stabilizers.
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Apr 1, 2011 14:58
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^^^^ Have you checked with an actual marine medical examiner? You'd be surprised what you can get away with. poo poo, I had a Captain who was on like his third bypass. Unless it's color blindness, then you're well and hosed. Even some form of diabete are acceptable, but you'd probably get restrictions... Rumour has it there was a chick with one arm who passed it. Tide posted:Not even remotely true. 99.999999999999 percent of the CBP Officers don't care one way or another - you're just another I95 to stamp. If you got flagged for NSEERS, chances are your name is the same as someone on somebody's watchlist (or was convicted of a crime), or you were born in one of the 20something countries that the US stays pissed off at. I was just talking about my personnal experience, and comparing to other countries I've been to. US was the most annoying, immigration wise, as a seaman. AFAIK, it's the only country that requires people to get a visa before they even join a ship... But being Canadian, I won't bitch about that As for the fingerprinting and picture taking, I was on a cruise ship. We called into Miami for the first time that year, and they had every crewmember who wasn't a US citizen get off the boat, go to the custom office in the terminal and have their picture and fingerprint taken. It was just one finger, I can't recall which one. Anyway, we're talking about 1170 people or so, from 70 or so countries, so... I doubt it was a matter of hitting a flag on a list. (It was also a major inconvenience, as we were in the middle of a USCG inspection) I don't have a TWIC card because I'm not a US citizen. It makes getting off the boat in the states a pain in the rear end, and is yet one more of the reasons why seamens don't like calling into the US all that much. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 09:48 on May 12, 2011 |
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May 12, 2011 09:39
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Two Finger posted:Not in the engine room! Even in the engine room here, from what I've heard. Something about wire colours and duties in an emergency... That might just be scuttlebutts, tho, I haven't looked into it. Two Finger posted:FrozenVent, where in Canada are you? My next contract should be starting around August sometime, want to grab a beer if I'm close by and you can bear the shame of drinking with an engineer cadet? I'm in Québec, but I live in the middle of nowhere shipping wise. What's your next contract on? Cruise again?
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May 12, 2011 10:12
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Interesting, I didn't know that was a disqualifier. There's no psychiatric testing component here, just a long rear end form where you have to check every medical issues you've ever had. I can see why it would be an issue, tho. Anything that requires someone to be on medication could become a serious headache really fast, really. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 05:12 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 12, 2011 11:41
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shovelbum posted:So have any of you guys started down this road completely cold, as described in the OP? No family or union connections or whatever from the outset? If there is actually eventually steady work in this field and a shortage of new blood for it, I may be very soon in a situation where I need a new career, and this sounds like the one for me. Yeah, I went in completely cold. Made connections through iternships and school. (As in, some of my classmates now have decent jobs, they're connections) Depending which country you're in, there's a pretty high demand for people right now. As for consistency... It eventually gets better. Every company's different, some of them will give you a permanent job right off the bat, others haven't made anyone permanent in years. If I wanted to go for consistent work, I could probably get it, but I'd have to sacrifice on other stuff (Pay and I guess you could say prestige. As well as advancement.)
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May 12, 2011 13:03
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Trench_Rat posted:I'm going to apply for a US job visa to work in the gulf. Is DHS going to rape me with a broomstick? I'd make sure your qualifications will be accepted by the USCG before I started worrying about a visa, but I don't know anything about that first hand. Heard they were pretty protectionist, tho.
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May 16, 2011 09:21
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Yeah, most american schools give you a Bachelor's, which is quite nice when you want to move ashore, I assume... Although by the time the interesting opportunities ashore open up, you have enough experience that no one cares about your degree. It's one of those things.
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May 24, 2011 02:27
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lightpole posted:90 day fly out to Japan. Oh God I'm not ready to work. No one is ever ready. Enjoy recovering from your long rear end flight and jet lag by immediately starting a 10 hour shift! Although hey, Japan's a lot better than Duluth, so... I'm kinda jealous.
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May 26, 2011 02:10
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Two Finger posted:What kind of route are you following there, lightpole?  Two Finger posted:Enjoy, it's funny... I just can't wait to get back to it, but then I'm a cadet, so yeah. In the meanwhile... Gonna ship out in June, hopefully. Probably gonna go back to where I was before, but I could use a lifestyle change. I keep getting recruitment websites emails for seismic surveys, anybody has any thoughts about those? (No experience there, tho, so...)
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May 26, 2011 02:51
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localized posted:I heard from a friend that RoRos have some of the nicest crew accommodations. Confirm/deny? The only one I ever was on had *two* saunas, one for the officers and one for the crew. Cause the last thing I want to see when I'm off duty is a naked, sweaty, overweight *unlicensed* dude. The boat was 25 years old, tho, so the saunas didn't work... And the engineers were concentrating on keeping the toilets working. FrozenVent fucked around with this message at 05:14 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 26, 2011 03:19
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lightpole posted:From what Ive seen its just another ship, the accommodations can only get so nice. On a ship space that isnt used towards cargo is wasted space and a loss of money. There are some parts of the ship that cant be used for certain cargo types which is where the crew and engine goes. The more space available, the more things you can put in there but only if the company wants to pay for it. Within certain limits it's more a matter of weight and cost; the accomodations go on top of the engine room where you can't stow poo poo anyhow, so the limit is essentially your maximum airdraft... Plus Ro/ros have these huge shelter decks that rarely gets used, I guess. Although if you're talking MSC, those things look like they're built like military boats and just packed with poo poo floor to ceilling, I wouldn't know. All of the cargo boats I've been on where the big white building at the back type. I'd say the main factor in accomodation quality is where the boat was built, and for who more than the type. Nicest I've seen was built in Belgium for Belgian crews, that thing had awesome housing, even if it was old as gently caress. Built in Japan for FOC crews was nice, built in Canada for Canadian crew is meh, the public areas are usually lovely... Of course there's really no way to know any of that before you join; you might be able to find out where it was built and go from there, but even then you're just taking a guess. Accomodation quality is rarely an issue, anyway. Food quality and not being stuck with assholes is much more important, IMHO, and that's entirely dependent on who's onboard right then.
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May 27, 2011 16:07
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