Go for it, man. It's a solid career that can pay the bills and then some. Or, you can sell everything, do this, and travel worry free the months you're off. No matter which route you take, there's a path for you to get to the top. Might take more time, but you can get to Captain one day starting as an Ordinary Seaman wirebrushing grease off the decks. If you don't mind chipping steel decks in Middle Eastern or Gulf of Mexico heat, standing gangway watch outside during negative temperatures in Alaska without the ability to go inside to warm up, dangling in a bosun's chair 100+ ft in the air greasing crane cables, or being in a deafening 120 degree engine room - go for it. It's how I started. For me, the hardest part was dealing with the officer's seniority complex. When most people get their license, they think their god of the world - there was a funny meme I saw once, it was a food triangle but with different academic qualifications. A maritime license was at the top, and below that was a PhD. It really does exemplify how a lot of people feel when they hold a 3rd Mate or 3rd Assistant Engineer ticket, and they treat the unlicensed as so.
As for automation, we're just as worried about it as every other industry. Rolls-Royce is working on autonomous ships, as are many other people. Surely, it's inevitable at some point in the future. In our lifetime? Doubtful. CEO of Maersk (largest shipping company in the world) said he doesn't see it happening in his lifetime. We're also an industry bogged down with tons of regulations. Our tech is quite a few years behind for this reason alone.
Get your Merchant Mariner's Credential (MMC) and TWIC first
and then apply here. I went through the apprentice program, so feel free to contact me if you need anything in relation to it.
edit: see that you said you have a culinary background, wasn't exactly sure what you meant by food industry. I'd highly recommend you call the SIU's academic department to see if they still have the steward department fast track program. For awhile last year, they were cutting the apprentice program time in like half if you were choosing to go the steward department route AND you had provable experience working in a restaurant or something similar. If you choose to go steward department (steward assistant cleans and makes officers beds, cook cooks of course, steward is in charge, bakes, and does deserts) you'll be out of the elements and have a pretty kush job. Downside is the pay caps out once you get to being the department head (Steward). They make about the same amount as 3rd Mate and 3rd Assistant Engineer.
My 2 cents: you do not want to work for NCL in the Steward's department. You're treated like a slave, you don't get paid very well, and you have to share rooms.
Quote: (11-11-2018 09:22 PM)ChicagoFire Wrote:
Thanks,
I come from the food industry which generally isn't unionized and I'd give it 10 years tops for that industry to cut back on labor costs drastically given how AI and automation is creeping slowly. Do you think AI and automation will render these jobs irrelevant? Obvious plus is unions will stomp down on that theoretically.
I'm considering going the apprenticeship route since I've been working dead end jobs for all of my adult life.
Quote: (11-09-2018 09:12 PM)Jnx Wrote:
My advice is if you're going to do this, go to a maritime academy. If you already have a degree, you can get your masters from SUNY Maritime in 2 years and come out with that plus a license to sail as an officer.
If you go the SIU apprentice program route, it'll take you about a 1.5-2 years all said and done. It's shitty, bottom of the totem pole work until you have the sea time to get your license. For deck or engine department, that's 3 years of sea time - which usually at best is 6 years of real time if you sail 6 months a year. Add classes and other unexpected events, and you're looking at about 8+ years actual time before you become an officer.
The last thing you want to do is pay for classes out of pocket, such as the STCW courses or the AB (Able Seafarer) courses. First, virtually all the companies operating the large, sea going ships are unionized whether that's SIU or SUP. Both these unions are seniority based. Good luck getting a job with SIU if you didn't go through their program. Second, let's say you want to sail deck department. To become an AB-Special (minimum required limitation to sail on the ships as an AB) you need 360 sea days as an Ordinary Seaman (OS) in addition to courses and passing a test. Where are you going to get an OS job that's not already unionized? Brings us back to point 1, you're not.
That is unless you want to work offshore Gulf of Mexico supply boats or non-union harbor tugs. By all means, get your MMC, TWIC, take your STCW/Basic Safety Training, and start applying to companies such as Edison Chouest, Harvey Gulf, or Moran Towing. First two rely on the oil industry, as they mostly supply the rigs and do that sort of work. You're at the mercy of oil prices whether or not you have a job. Be aware, these are limited tonnage boats - so your sea time won't count if you're looking to go deep sea one day.
tldr; go to one of the 6 maritime academies. Get a degree while also getting your license to sail deck or engine officer. Part of the program is going on 'cruises.' Many of the university training ships go to cool, exotic places anyways. It's not 4 years stuck in a classroom. You'll make the money back you spent on school in no time.
Will be around to answer questions, don't want to say too much at risk of uncovering identity - small world out here.
