I have a 200 ton master license and I am about to take the apprentice mate of towing course and was wondering how hard it would be to get a job as a training mate at a towing company. It has been years since I worked tugs but I would like to get away from the oilfield. My tug time is mostly on ship assist tugs and that is what I would like to be on. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Thanks
You would be a lot better off testing for your 500 ton and then only needing to complete the TOAR and 30 days of observer time. Much easier path to the towing license.
that’s the only way to go. I have seen others struggle for years other ways. The apprentice mate system only works if a company will bring you on strictly as a trainee.
I am a little wary of spending the money it takes to upgrade. I have already had a 10% pay cut and the way it is looking it might not be the worst of what is to come. Aren’t most ship assist tugs under 200 tons? Am i wasting my time without a 500 ton?
dollar for dollar it’s not worth getting anything else. That way you have a license you can go work on other vessels with as well.
[QUOTE=Dawn patrol;155986]I am a little wary of spending the money it takes to upgrade. I have already had a 10% pay cut and the way it is looking it might not be the worst of what is to come. Aren’t most ship assist tugs under 200 tons? Am i wasting my time without a 500 ton?[/QUOTE]
Regardless of their tonnage a Master of Towing covers the boat. The issue is how fast you get said MoT. How long do you have to serve as an apprentice mate, 12 months? 18 months? If you get a 500 ton license then all you need to do is a TOAR and some observer time and if your a Gould boat handler that shouldn’t take long at all. What cost is involved? Apply and test, nothing to it.
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;156004]Regardless of their tonnage a Master of Towing covers the boat. The issue is how fast you get said MoT. How long do you have to serve as an apprentice mate, 12 months? 18 months? If you get a 500 ton license then all you need to do is a TOAR and some observer time and if your a Gould boat handler that shouldn’t take long at all. What cost is involved? Apply and test, nothing to it.[/QUOTE]
If you have at least 3 years as Master you can also get Mate of Towing Vessels with 30 days and a TOAR and the apprentice mate exam. You may find that exam easier to prepare for than the 500 ton exam. Also, there are approved courses to substitute for the apprentice mate exam, but there are no courses to substitute for 500 tons. If you go for the 500 ton license, you have to test at an REC.
Mr.Cavo,
That 3 years is as a Master while holding a Master, is it not?
[QUOTE=captjamied;156030]Mr.Cavo,
That 3 years is as a Master while holding a Master, is it not?[/QUOTE]
3 years as Master of vessels less than 200 GRT. See 46 CFR 11.465(f).
[QUOTE=Dawn patrol;155986]I am a little wary of spending the money it takes to upgrade. I have already had a 10% pay cut and the way it is looking it might not be the worst of what is to come. Aren’t most ship assist tugs under 200 tons? Am i wasting my time without a 500 ton?[/QUOTE]
I’m in a similair situation…I almost see some light at the end of the tunnel…all I can say is I will be super stoked when it’s over, and I wish I would have upgraded sooner. Sure most tugs are under 200 t but lots of companies want a bigger ticket regardless.
I went from 100 to 200 about 9 yrs ago now, and I really wish I would have gone straight to 500/1600 then. Would have been easier than now, with my family situations. Hard to study at home with ragamuffins running around and as we know it can be hard to study at work.
Thanks to all the Good advice from all of you. The way the oil industry is going right now I am not in the position to spend the money it would take to get a 500 ton I would have to take prep course and take time off from my schedule. I think that MR Cavo has the best option at this time. Where I live I know the owner of a ship assist tug company and have talked to him about working for him when I am home to get my time.
The CFR says “36 months as master” but the NMC checklist pdf on the NMC site says 1080 days as master… Confusing there because 36 months / 3 yrs as master isn’t the same as 1080 days of sea service as master necessarily.
To the USCG a month of sea service is thirty days and not 28, 29 or 31.
I wish they would just use 1080 days as the only language and get rid of that 36 months or 3 years…
[QUOTE=HooliganMariner;156959]I wish they would just use 1080 days as the only language and get rid of that 36 months or 3 years…[/QUOTE]
But then there would be no ambiguity. Where’s the fun in that?
[QUOTE=HooliganMariner;156950]The CFR says “36 months as master” but the NMC checklist pdf on the NMC site says 1080 days as master… Confusing there because 36 months / 3 yrs as master isn’t the same as 1080 days of sea service as master necessarily.[/QUOTE]
It’s actual time working as a Master, not the amount of time that passed (on the calendar) from your first day until the last. It should be obvious to all but the most blindly optimistic sea lawyer that “service as Master” means time actually working as Master. If you aren’t on the boat, you aren’t serving as Master. If you worked one day on April 1, 2010 and another day on April 1, 2013, you do not have 36 months service as Master, you have 2 days.
From 46 CFR 10.107, a month is 30 days. 36 months X 30 days per month = 1080 days. NMC is correct.
Fortunately, the USCG is not passing out towing licenses like candy to guys like this.
Given the collapse of the GOM job market, there is about to be a lot of fraudulent applications by oil patch refugees for master and mate of towing licenses. The USCG needs to give all applications for towing licenses extra scrutiny for the next couple of years.
[QUOTE=cmakin;156989]But then there would be no ambiguity. Where’s the fun in that?[/QUOTE]
It was decided that simplicity was better. We’re not allowed to have fun…
[QUOTE=tugsailor;157043]Fortunately, the USCG is not passing out towing licenses like candy to guys like this.
Given the collapse of the GOM job market, there is about to be a lot of fraudulent applications by oil patch refugees for master and mate of towing licenses. The USCG needs to give all applications for towing licenses extra scrutiny for the next couple of years.[/QUOTE]
Both from personal observation in the realworld, and on here, there’s been a marked uptick in everyone wanting a towing license again…go figure. Everyone wants our mickey-mouse tuggey license again. I too hope they’re all gone over with a fine-tooth comb.
The Cornell on the Hudson is somewhat OK in my book, but there are other’s pencil-whipping toars for a fee that should be shut down.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;157043]Fortunately, the USCG is not passing out towing licenses like candy to guys like this.
Given the collapse of the GOM job market, [B]there is about to be a lot of fraudulent applications by oil patch[/B] refugees for master and mate of towing licenses. The USCG needs to give all applications for towing licenses extra scrutiny for the next couple of years.[/QUOTE]
good thing that hasn’t been going for years…