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Third Assistant Engineer from Kings Point checking in. I work in the M.E.B.A Union. Just got off my last ship yesterday actually. Can answer any questions people might have about going to USMMA, being the union, or shipping out. I've shipped foreign and US flag too.
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Jun 18, 2011 00:02
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Two Finger posted:Enjoy, mate. What sort of route are you doing, do you know? Yes and no. I worked on some Belgium flagged LNG ships and they accepted my US license and gave me an equivalent Belgium one. So now I have a Belgium Seamans Book and watchstanding certificates. I got laid off from that job though last winter, so now I'm back to US shipping. Working on getting some seniority in my union, then you get the tits jobs that pay close to $1000/day. Yes please.
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Jun 18, 2011 00:38
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J Corp posted:In Busan, Korea. Considering they take about the same amount of time, I'd suggest going to school to get your license. It's much easier compared to jumping through all the hoops the US Coast Guard requires of you these days. It would be very easy to miss some STCW's or forget some crucial form that can slow down the whole process. Better to just let the school take care of it all. You'll also get a BS on top of your license. That's just me though.
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Jun 22, 2011 23:34
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:Supposing you're a 25-year old guy guy who lives in Michigan and currently has no career prospects and a rather useless liberal arts degree, has no problem doing manual labor and is extremely wary of going to get more school-debt. Maybe in the Great Lakes, maybe further out, who cares. If you want to work your way up unlicensed, I'd join Seafarers International Union (SIU) and they'll get going. Not sure where there closest hall is for you. I wouldn't stick with them for very long as they sort of have a reputation for being a scum bag union, but it's probably the easiest way from coming from the shore with no sailing experience to getting out on ships. They will push you to take all your courses and license/endorsement exams at their training school in Piney Point, MD, but I've heard you can just take the exams that are pertinent to what you want to do on your own. That way you don't have to deal with their bullshit where they string you along as unnecessary ratings, and you save some money.
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Jun 30, 2011 01:02
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Guliani is HOT posted:Anyone here graduate from Texas Maritime Academy? That's probably where I would go. Has anyone here gone to any of the US maritime academies? What do you do, grab a degree and then join a union and just start applying for jobs? I went to the US Merchant Marine Academy in NY, graduated in 2009. Came out with a BS in Marine Engineering Systems, a USCG License as a Third Assistant Engineer on unlimited tonnage vessels of any horsepower (gas turbine, steam, or motor), and a commission in the US Navy Reserve as an Ensign. While you certainly don't have to join a union, I'd say most people end up that way. You don't really have to apply for jobs in a union, though some companies do hire from within and just require that you be in the union. If you actually want to travel, shipping isn't what it used to be as far as getting off the ship and exploring exotic ports of call. Container ships are rarely in port for more than day, and even during that time there is stuff that needs to be done while everything is shut down that can't be done when the ship is underway. Before I got laid off I was working six months (three months on/three months off) and grossed about $90k a year. There are certainly other higher paying contracts out there. THough now I'm shipping out of the hall, this last ship I was on, I made about $28k before taxes for a two month trip, which is pretty low for the industry. I'd say Military Sealift Command would be your best bet if you just want to go to sea and make a crap load of money. Though you'll probably be sailing about ten months out of the year.
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Jun 30, 2011 17:11
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Just sent off my paperwork to USCG to upgrade to my 2nd Engineers Motor and Steam, hopefully there are no hold-ups. Thinking about dumping the union and getting into the drill ships for a little bit, those guys are pulling in some serious cash.
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Oct 22, 2011 00:50
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PowerJew posted:You MEBA? I am. Though i don't work through them. The drillships pull huge money. Problem is many of them are international flag and have Chief's, firsts and some QMEDs. The ship i'm headed to is diesel electric and plant load is controlled by the mate on watch/DPO. Yea I joined MEBA in 09, group II now. I was sailing foreign flag on when I was working as a permanent on that Exmar/Alaris LNG contract we have but I got laid off after they cut the number of ships we could go on from 7 to 2. Who do your work for? You just staying in the union as an insurance policy or do you work on a union ship? lightpole posted:The 3rds are doing like 90k for 6 months or around the same as the union working 12s right? One of my classmates on there is clearing 120k a year for 6 months. What do you mean by working 12s? I worked about 5 months this year as a third and pulled about 60k, kind of crummy for this industry, but I also took a very low paying ship just to get my diesel time for upgrading. Fish Shalami fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Oct 25, 2011 |
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Oct 25, 2011 23:32
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PowerJew posted:I just got hired on with Transocean one one of there drill ships in west africa. Couldn't be happier. The money is stupid good. You know someone with the company or did you just keep applying online?
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Oct 27, 2011 16:15
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Apparently there is going to be a strike in the port of Oakland tomorrow? Anyone know any details on this? Also, anyone know of any marine engineering companies in SF area that would be willing to do an internship for ~2 weeks?
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Nov 2, 2011 06:55
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lightpole posted:Also, 2 weeks what the hell... I want to do something shore based, I already work at sea. I don't really care if it's paid, just something to do and throw on a resume or get some contacts. Fish Shalami fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Nov 2, 2011 |
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Nov 2, 2011 18:43
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Any offshore companies hiring right now in the US or foreign? No drill experience, but I've been sailing deep sea as a third a/e and have just upgraded to second a/e. I have LNG experience too.
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Nov 26, 2011 18:33
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FrozenVent posted:
Classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-QNAwUdHUQ
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Nov 28, 2011 05:41
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Just upgraded to 2nd Engineer Motor/Steam Any Horsepower. Only took a month for Coast Guard to review it. Any questions about the process I'd be happy to answer.
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Nov 30, 2011 17:00
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shovelbum posted:You kept a steam endorsement, what's the requirement for keeping that upgraded along with motor? Sorry, I'm in Costa Rica with crappy internet service so wasn't able to check this for a while. You need at least 300 days on one propulsion type to upgrade your license, and then another 120 days on top of that if you want to upgrade a different propulsion type. So I did 300-something on steam and then exactly 120 on a diesel. e; that's for going 3rd to 2 a/e obviously. I believe it's also an extra 120 days supplemental on top of whatever sea days you need to require you're base license. I don't plan on advancing my steam anymore though. I was talking to a naval architect for Chevron and he was telling me that no more ships are going to be built with steam plants because they are just too inefficient. He was working on the LNG side of things too who are normally keen to use steam plants. Fish Shalami fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Dec 4, 2011 |
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Dec 4, 2011 05:20
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If you act stupid they won't ask you to do as much.
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Dec 6, 2011 00:42
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lightpole posted:Yeah but then you never get to do anything fun. Well this is where it gets tricky. You have to seed some ideas in the beginning of the trip and hint that you hate certain things that you actually like to work on. Then when they think they are giving you a poo poo job you'll actually enjoy it
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Dec 6, 2011 05:19
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FrozenVent posted:What kind of ship was that? Never seen a real live sparky. The vast majority of deck officers have GMDSS licenses anyway, so that plus a shore based maintenance contract and equipment duplication and you're good to go. Cruise ship I was on had an electronic engineer, I don't know if he had a radio op license or what but he did fix our poo poo. Matson still has radio operators and unlicensed electricians. On those LNG ships I was on we had an Automation Engineer and an Electrician. The automation engineer was pretty much god though.
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Dec 24, 2011 16:59
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lightpole posted:I have around 34 days to go. We are going to get in to port 5 days before I can get off without quitting and then head north where it has been especially nasty. Furthermore I took an 11.7% pay cut on 1/1 for pension reasons. I just did a 30 day trip with OSG as a third. That 11.7% is tough to swallow. Going to look shoreside much more seriously now. They did ask me to come back though, so that's good I guess. Might be able to pick up a permanent with ATC soon, I think my card is too young though at the moment. Fish Shalami fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Feb 16, 2012 |
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Feb 16, 2012 18:51
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lightpole posted:That, 12 hour days and whatever else they changed in the MOU. They can't get 1sts and the ones on there are pissed. I had to quit to miss AK the 2nd time but I was pretty much at my limit and the chief gave me a good review. You sail out of the Oakland Hall?
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Feb 17, 2012 01:17
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lightpole posted:Yes. Neither. Joe, 2002 Grad from Cal. Cool dude.
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Feb 21, 2012 18:24
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Trench_Rat posted:how does military sealift command works? are the ships owned by the US navy then crewed by civilians or are they chartered from shipping companies. Civilian Merchant Mariners crew the vessels and the vessels resupply Navy vessels. MARAD owns some, and others are owned by commercial shipping companies where the ships are contracted out to MSC, or some combination of the two. Just look at MSC as a very large civilian contractor for the Navy. Not a big fan of them.
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Mar 4, 2012 02:51
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Anyone ever worked for Stabbert Maritime? They just offered me a gig on a Fisheries Research vessel out of the west coast. It's probably hunting whales for all I know.
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Mar 17, 2012 04:18
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At least you guys have a training ship. Texas A&M stole ours. Pretty sure KP is closing soon anyways...
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Apr 12, 2012 04:40
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KP cadets get the majority of their sea days on commercial ships. Those that don't quite meet the necessary days to sit for license make up the difference on the training ship. But we had to get rid of ours training ship since supposedly the pier where it was tied up is being renovated. I got about 330 days on four different ships as a cadet and saw a good chunk of the world, actually went to all seven continents.
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Apr 13, 2012 04:17
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Anyone here go to SUNY? I was thinking of taking a 45 day job on the training ship to let my card age and just something to do. If the ship is a complete disaster though I'll say to hell with it.
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May 3, 2012 18:13
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lightpole posted:I sailed with some people that did and heard it wasn't too bad. They hit the Caribbean and Europe I think. I'm trying to get on a rig, transocean says they've been hiring thirds now for three years, and I must have sent them like 20 applications, and nothing. That 28 on/off schedule is looking pretty nice about now. I've only been going to the hall for about a two weeks now though. drat group 1 guys keep grabbing everything. I'm not taking that TV Empire State job, they won't pay travel and it only pays $115 a day. Pretty bad.
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May 4, 2012 05:58
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FrozenVent posted:115$ a day is 14.38$ an hour, for eight hours. That's about what the security guards at McDonald's make here. Couple that with the fact that there are a bunch of Midshipmen from a rival school who will probably give me lip the entire trip while I'm trying to teach them. No thanks. Its only redeeming quality is that it is going to Azores and Iceland.
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May 4, 2012 17:53
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FrozenVent posted:Disregard previous post. I'd take that job. Assuming the port stays are long and relatively not busy. I backpacked Iceland for vacation, so Azores is what I'd do it for. I think there are about 3 days in each port. I said no this morning, if anyone else is interested I'd be happy to give you the contact info, they need someone ASAP.
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May 5, 2012 01:31
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FrozenVent posted:So do... Well, everybody else, all the time. I like that song. Some guys in my class did an awesome cover of it.
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May 6, 2012 17:45
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We had a union meeting today. These things are getting quite depressing. Looks like we are in a race to the bottom with AMO as far as wages go. I need to get out.
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May 9, 2012 04:11
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We had a recurring clog on one of the drop lines to the sewage holding tank and the guys on the other rotation got so fed up with it the cut into the bulkheads and then cut into the pipe to back flush it with fire hoses. Well I guess they didn't trace it out very well because they blew the line out, but into the Captain's bathroom.... with fire line pressure....twice. He was not happy.
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May 15, 2012 23:22
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Most commercial ships just have a designated medical officer who knows basic lifesaving measures if you are lucky, usually the second or third mate. SOP is to get an actual doctor on the phone and ask for guidance in treating anything. I was on one ship where we had a Diabetic reefer-man who had to get helli-evaced (sp?) off the ship off the coast of Japan after he lost feeling in his feet. Just picked up a 30-60 day job on an ATC tanker as the 2nd Engineer. First trip as second, should be interesting...
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May 19, 2012 21:28
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I'm just hoping this shore side job I'm eyeing pans out then this will be my last trip.
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May 21, 2012 01:41
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Just finished a 65 day stint on a VLCC cruising up and down the west coast. I think I'm going to take off till November. Though I'm interviewing with Transocean next week just out curiosity. If they can wait till end of October I might switch to the Oil patch.
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Jul 27, 2012 04:46
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Got offered a 3 A/E position with Transocean or their drillships. Money is pretty good...for some reason I'm hesitant though. Anyone work for them?
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Jul 31, 2012 15:06
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FrozenVent posted:
fixed for you
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Jul 31, 2012 18:55
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Yea I did 6x6 for a week in the shipyard, I was getting 8 hours OT during the weekday and then 12 on the weekend, but I was constantly tired and had no motivation to do anything but sleep when I was off. Not worth it.
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Aug 1, 2012 15:28
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Recruiter told me its 3 weeks on/off in the gulf. But there will be training during your off time. They pay travel and what not. You'll also be sharing a room and shower with another person on the rig who is on the opposite work schedule from you. For some reason that last one isn't too appealing to me.
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Aug 3, 2012 14:55
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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 |
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Aug 19, 2012 17:01
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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.
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Aug 21, 2012 16:47
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