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Slight necro, but this thread caught my eye... FrozenVent posted: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. 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. TWIC is a whole different ballgame. If you're a USC working on a boat, there's no reason for you NOT to have one. Two Finger posted:Christ don't even loving start. I was going to go stay with a friend of mine in the States after I left my ship in Lauderdale... well, long story short I would have had to leave the states and then reenter so that I could stay as a visitor. Apparently they can't reissue you a visa without you leaving the country It's a legacy INS issue that has to do with your status as to HOW you enter the country (boat, plane, other). Doesn't matter if we (the US) has a reciprocal visa agreement with your home country or not. It's been that way, well...forever. Basically, it's a Jones Act issue. On a boat, you're coming in as a C1/D (or D) classification. To just hop off the boat and stay a while, you'll need to be a B1 or B2 visa - which you can get when you go back home* as long as you can prove you need a B1/B2. Generally B1/B2 is restricted to businessmen (or technicians, superintendents, etc). But, next time you're home try and get a C1/D B1/B2 dual visa. Will cost a bit more but the flexibility of it will be worth it. And the added benefit of a B1/B2 is you can now apply for a TWIC. HOWEVER, if you are of sufficient rank (generally Captain, Chief Officer, or Chief Mate) and the CBP Officer clearing you is in a good mood, they'll allow you to stay in the US for a spell to have a bit of a vacation. But, that's an unwritten kind of thing based upon each individuals discretion. FNG CBP will generally say no. Legacy CBP will generally say yes. Being polite, but not overly so, having your paperwork and crew in order and ready to go on arrival, and having a local agent of good reputation will help tremendously. *You can't get a US Visa in the US. Only at a US Embassy in your home country. Tide fucked around with this message at 07:12 on May 12, 2011 |
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May 12, 2011 06:50
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 11:44 |
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On a different note, in this life, I make my living as a steamship agent. Found this while digging through some old files: We the willing, Led by the Unknowing, Are doing the impossible, For the ungrateful. We have done so much, With so little, For so long, We are now qualified to do Anything with nothing! * But back to the cruiseship accident, even if a pilot was on board, the captain is going to take the fall. I imagine the usual pilot caveats and addendums are in place all over the world, but in the US the pilot acts in an advisory role only. Basically, if the pilot says "HARD TO PORT, FULL AHEAD" and the captain (or helmsman) does it and crashes into a berth filled with school children taking pictures escorted by a bus full of nuns, the pilot essentially walks off the boat and wipes his hands of the matter. And continues on with his 350,000 a year job.
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Jan 19, 2012 17:37
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FrozenVent posted:Jesus almighty, I figured you guys were at 30+ bucks an hour. Speaking from the point of view as a ships agent, shore personnel are hilariously underpaid considering the nature and responsibility of their jobs. I started out as an agent, and have since been promoted to port manager covering 5 ports. Had I been willing to move, I could have taken a position with a few owners or charterers in various capacities (port captain, super, operator). Love this thread, btw Tide fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Aug 12, 2012 |
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Aug 12, 2012 19:37
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FrozenVent posted:I'm not too keen on getting Internet-detectived. It's a Canadian self unloader. I'm 99 percent sure I know which "line" that boat is owned/operated by...Have you ever been to the US Gulf?
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Nov 15, 2012 20:26
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FrozenVent posted:Call around to the companies that interest you and see if they're hiring? I could see this being a very localized thing as far as market goes, and unless the spot market is in a thorough depression, it shouldn't affect the rate at which people retire or get replaced. Nobody is retiring at the moment. FilMoolah, whats your previous experience/quals (and location)? I might be able to point you in the right direction. Be warned, most places are still down to near skeleton crews and working the gently caress out of their operators.
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May 15, 2013 15:42
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lightpole posted:Ugh I need to stop doing trips over 120 days. My head is so hosed up. Its going to take a month and drugs to fix this. I really can't fathom how the Filipinos, Koreans, Indians, Russians, etc do 9 month plus contacts.
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Oct 9, 2013 20:15
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Way back when I was an agent, one of the first ships I ever boarded was captained by an old Greek hippy that hadn't been off the ship in 3 and a half years. Never went ashore in any port. He only wore flip flops, tank tops and shorts and little round sunglasses that he never ever took off - day or night. Wouldn't look directly at you. Huge bushy beard and hair down to his rear end. Best coffee in the world and seemed like a genuinely nice guy but holy hell was he a bit off.
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Oct 9, 2013 22:06
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Sludge Tank posted:Surely there would have been some awesome story behind him? A tragic greek love story perhaps? I love poo poo like that No idea. When I would go on board, our meetings consisted of the two of us drinking coffee and smoking L&M cigarettes after eating one fried egg, one slice of toast and a cooked hot dog weiner for an hour or so while sitting across from each other. Not much was said. His english was good, not great, but could hold a conversation if you could get him engaged. Maybe I did enough talking for the both of us. Whenever I would leave, he would insist on me taking a carton of smokes and a bottle of Ouzo. I just generally think the ship was his home and he never saw the need to leave it. Come to think of it, he looks like a duplicate copy of Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty. Except his beard and hair were longer.
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Oct 10, 2013 19:51
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I am, unfortunately, a well experienced agent (  ) in the US. If you have any questions, shoot it here or PM.
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Nov 14, 2013 22:00
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FrozenVent posted:Ever had to do that thing where you sit in the CCR thorough the unload to reassure the charterer that yes, everything went safely? Cause that poo poo sounds boring as gently caress. No, not personally. We used to put the low man on the totem pole in the CCR during lightering ops on a few tankers we had under our control, but I never actually did it. I have, however, spent a few days to a week on board some of the specialized offshore / DPS / seismic boats while in port because we had so. much. work. going on during a week long mob/demob. That's actually not bad. The food is awesome, internet is decently fast, and the cabin is quite nice. It's easier being on site and just being there in case of HOLY poo poo WE'VE BEEN PLANNING ON BEING AT THIS PORT FOR 2 MONTHS BUT SOMEONE SOMEWHERE FORGOT THAT <INSERT THING> IS DUE FOR RECERT / REPAIR / USCG / CLASS INSPECTIONS. Which happens all the goddamn time and I just want to dickslap the C/E or captain or owners in general.
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Nov 14, 2013 22:39
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I like to think that in every C/Es office, in every engine room, in every owners office, there is some variation of this: Some are cleaner, some are dirtier, some have tear drops and spilled scotch. Some are even covered in blood from the .38 the chief ended up eating. But since the dawn of the steam engine and the need for an agent, this is how things are done. Tide fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Nov 15, 2013 |
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Nov 15, 2013 00:47
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 Beats my story about the captain that jumped from the bridge wing in the Florida straits, the c/o that od'd on heroin, or captain that got tossed overboard by his crew
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Nov 15, 2013 02:31
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Two Finger posted:My next two contracts are on that awful broken thing I showed FV. Why is it that a guy who is so incompetent that he contaminates the entire distilled water system via opening the emergency technical water filling valve and not telling anyone for two days gets upgraded to the newest ship in the fleet and because I do my job with any kind of competency I get to stay on the worst ship? Because you've shown the ability/aptitude to handle a bad situation and you won't gently caress it up. It's not a punishment, though it feels like it. I get the same thing (project vessels, dry docks, difficult customers, etc). At least that's what I tell myself 
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Nov 20, 2013 18:24
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Speaking of captains...You are...Canadian, if I remember right? Anyway, somewhat of an anecdote, but every American captain I've ever worked with has been a grade A rear end in a top hat. Good at their jobs, I guess, but rear end in a top hat none the less. I probably get along best and prefer to work with the older Norwegian masters - which unfortunately is getting pretty rare these days. Filipinos are probably the most easy going, Indians make me want to pull my hair out, and Greeks are just annoying. Captains, I mean. Russians/Latvians/Ukrainians are usually too hungover to form a sentence.
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Nov 20, 2013 23:15
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Sadly, I've only met a few Canadians on board the ships I've covered. One was a 20 year old cadet that looked suspiciously like Shaun White. On a Vanuatu flagged self discharger with an otherwise all Indian and Pakistani crew. Took him out for a huge Southern breakfast. I don't know if I've ever seen someone so happy to see a plate of eggs and grits.
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Nov 20, 2013 23:31
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Thank God we subcontract out all transportation. If I had to be a glorified taxi driver I would drink more (than I already do). That said, whenever I have a crewman (or even the old man) ask for a ride somewhere, I usually say "Sorry, insurance regs won't allow it. Here's a number to call for TWIC escort/taxi." Unless I like the guy. But that rarely happens in as much as I just want to get the gently caress off the boat because I've got any number of things more important than making sure they get to go shopping. Back in the day, like 15 years ago, the agent would get fired for not taking the captain ashore and being at their beck and call. Now, unless I'm specifically working for the owners (usually working for the charterers), not my problem. And even if I'm working for the owners, no where in the appointment does it say "errand boy". Owners agency work is mostly done remotely anyway and using subcontractors/vendors for the crew changes, spares delivery, etc. Right now, I have three boats in dry dock/shipyard with a fourth on the way. Kill me now. edit: To clarify a bit so I don't come across as a complete prick that's insensitive to the crew since you guys are mariners...Stand by for  You probably know that at any different time, we (agents) have any number of ships under our control at any given time. It's awfully hard to get vested in the interests of the crew when you barely know your own name much less have the time to be 'friendly' with the crew/officers that you'll likely never see again. The other side of the coin is that owners have continually refused to appoint agents for owners matters (or just generally to assist with the welfare of the crew) and when they do, the rates they want to pay us are absolute poo poo; wanting Mercedes white glove service while paying Yugo rates. Now, I get paid the same no matter what the company I work for gets paid, so you'd think this doesn't matter to me. But it does - it probably shouldn't, but it does. That said, it mostly comes down to a "time" thing, or lack thereof. Plus, in this day in age with seemingly everyone having a lawyer on speed dial, if anything happens while you're in my 'care', you become my and my company's responsibility. So, if we're not paid to attend owners matters, I can't really do much for you, even if it's convenient. It mostly depends on who is paying the bills. Tide fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Dec 3, 2013 |
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Dec 3, 2013 17:55
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FrozenVent posted:Did everyone see that video of the guy getting rescued after two days inside a sunken boat? You talking about the story about the tug that capsized (and sunk!) and he managed to stay alive in air pockets? To top that off, when the divers went down to collect the bodies, the survivor grabbed one of the divers by the arm - understandably freaking him out. Yeah, that's pretty much peak insane right there.
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Dec 5, 2013 21:02
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on so many loving levels.
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I read about that the other day on Fairplay, and to be honest, I don't think it will ever happen for a multitude of reasons. First, obviously, ships are complex and require dozens of actions a day in terms of maintenance. Second, too easy a target for piracy which will make shippers resistant no matter what kind of freight rate they get and will give insurers nightmares. Third, what is their solution for coming into our sailing from port? I could go on but to me it's a pie in the sky pipe dream.
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Mar 13, 2014 03:31
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nwin posted:There are still some OBO's around, at least on the foreign flags. SKS is the one carrier that comes to mind. I've inspected maybe two of em, though iirc they are just used for freight now. There's a few SKS boats loading coal out of my port. They aren't as popular a vessel as they were 10-15 years ago. They can be gotten on the cheap in terms of its daily hire which is why a few are still sailing.
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May 1, 2014 15:22
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This isn't a gripe specific to the marine industry or even APM itself, but online job application sites suck. I filled out each profile page, submitted my resume, got a confirmation of application, bit I swear half the pages reset themselves. My status is "In Process". Does that mean, APM is in the process of reviewing my application? I'm in process of applying? Who knows
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Mar 18, 2015 13:20
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Watched this on Friday. It's an good watch. I've been involved with two ships that had people go missing or otherwise dead under mysterious circumstances. Another where the crew flat out admitted to throwing the captain overboard because of abuse Tide fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Jun 4, 2015 |
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Jun 4, 2015 01:02
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A recovering alcoholic going into the maritime industry? Yeaaaah, good luck with that!
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Jun 17, 2015 15:24
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 11:44 |
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what the gently caress posted:my ship ran aground in a blizzard Spectacular user name post combo e: beaten like a red headed stepchild.
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Mar 17, 2016 18:15
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