[QUOTE=Johnny Canal;129878]Now you’re talking. Just last February I laid up 1969 horizon discovery to be swapped out with 1973 horizon trader. Great old rust buckets![/QUOTE]
Don’t tell me Horizon is finally laying up their moldy oldies. I thought those things were meant to roam the seas in a zombie-like state forever, just like the pirates in the first Pirates of the Caribbean!
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;129901]Don’t tell me Horizon is finally laying up their moldy oldies. I thought those things were meant to roam the seas in a zombie-like state forever, just like the pirates in the first Pirates of the Caribbean![/QUOTE]
USCG gave them no choice with Challenger, which also is laid up in Orange, just behind Discovery.
Just not enough trade to/from San Juan to run all their ships.
Crusader was scrapped years ago. So I think that might leave Discovery and Challenger as last two remaning US lines Lancer class left
Although I’m not sure what class Navigator is or where old west coast horzon ships originally came from.
Discovery and Challenger are most likely headed for some beach in the Arabian Gulf sometime soon.
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;129899]^ Sure, just you, your old wooden leg, and your glass eye, and your Polish pencil!
[/QUOTE]
Hate to brag, KC, but I sport a Vienna sausage.
Trust me, I wish I born at least 20-30 yrs earlier just so that I could’ve sailed when more of those ships and break bulk were still around, let alone brand new. Totally different era that I experienced just once as a cadet.
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;129899]^ Sure, just you, your old wooden leg, and your glass eye, and your Polish pencil!
never saw an episode of “The Wire”…did they really have a character called “Spamanato”? Is this the mug?
If it is, that’s my fucking brother who owes me money!
anyway…when I was young and first going to sea it was dreams to sail the oceans of the world, get a draw in port, drink heavily, fuck all the cheap local talent and do it all over again in the next one…NO FUCKING BUTTON PUSHING BALLET DANCING that is all these kiddies do today!
FUCKING LITTLE SHITS THESE DAZE AND THEIR DREAMS OF GLORY BEING DRILLSHIP DPO’s! THEY THINK THEY’RE ALL KING SHIT WITH THEIR SIX FIGURE SALARIES BUT THEY WILL NEVER EVER BE SEAMEN OR HAVE MY RESPECT UNLESS THEY DO REAL MARINER’S WORK FIRST! GET FUCKING GREASY OUT ON DECK AND THEN YOU CAN STAND WITH THE MEN! LITTLE SHITS!
.
[QUOTE=c.captain;129937]never saw an episode of “The Wire”…did they really have a character called “Spamanato”?
When I was young it was dreams to sail the oceans of the world, get a draw in port, drink heavily, fuck all the cheap local talent and do it all over again.
FUCKING LITTLE SHITS THESE DAZE AND THEIR DREAMS OF GLORY BEING DRILLSHIP DPO’s! THEY THINK THEY’RE ALL KING SHIT WITH THEIR SIX FIGURE SALARIES BUT THEY WILL NEVER EVER BE SEAMEN OR HAVE MY RESPECT UNLESS THEY DO REAL MARINER’S WORK FIRST![/QUOTE]
Bravo!! Got a few draws in port and didn’t really know if the local talent was cheap or not, didn’t care. After a few weeks of reading old paperback books anything looked gorgeous and was probably more talented than me anyway. These days the lads are scared of catching something, lowering their self perceived social status or they have some darling back home that already has their six figure salary spent for them before they are even married. They go to f*#king Burger King in a foreign port or look for the first Hard Rock Cafe for christ sake! Disgraceful. But it isn’t all their fault as they don’t understand what you speak of since they haven’t lived a deprived life without phone calls, internet etc for 60 or 90 days at the time. They are just waiting to catch a plane home in a few hours to see their expensive local talent. 
Old-timey sailor skills? Is navigating, managing,loading,offloading and the like really old-timey skills? They will do none of that as a DPO.
It’s a good thing you all don’t know that the academies have other programs besides license. Heaven forbid someone chooses not to sail as a 3M/3AE outa school. Imagine if they did something like becoming a marine biologist, or a Terminal Manager, or a Ship Broker. Can you really say that being a DPO isn’t a part of the maritime industry. The State Academies aren’t for the sole purpose of making Licensed Deck/Engine Officers, it’s to create educated professionals who can work in a variety of sectors in the Maritime Industry.
You guys should chill out and give the kid some advice instead of jumping all over him.
Wow, I have avoided posting a rant so well until now. Besides perhaps KC and Ll_D no one has chosen to constructively answer the OPs question or even acknowledge that it’s a legitimate one. Yes, he certainly could get a job as an AB on a rust bucket and learn seamanship like patching holes, chipping paint, and splicing hawser. Could probably pick up a few ship handling skills from the pilot. Maybe learn how to operate outdated cargo systems and antiquated automation systems. None of which would be an asset when trying years later to get on a drillship, since that is his stated goal. Very little of the experience I gained sailing deep sea would not have been obtainable if I were hired directly as a 3rd for the drilling contactor I work for now. The oil patch is where technology is advancing the quickest and if you want to be relevant then getting in as early as possible is not cheating the system, it’s a smart career move. And that technology is DP, and sailing for however many years before sticking your foot in the door is no extra help if you still don’t have the DP cert to immediately fill a DP spot. The idiot 3rd with DP will be hired over a salty captain without, any day of the week right now. You can’t (shouldn’t) fault someone for wanting the best high paying job available, and the jobs are obviously available. There are more than 11 newbuild drillships under build contact in the yard I’m at and they are all going to need DPOs and most will be recent new hires. So yes, by all means take all the training you can, some companies take cadets but not many. Even having the first class and book started can only be an asset because at the end of the day it’s less time a company has to hold you as a trainee. Let the guys who want to travel the world and enjoy exotic meals and exotic women in third world countries sail the ocean blue, reminiscing about the good ol days that they are still attempting to live in, whilst you take a high paying, air conditioned, button-pushing job sailing on the same damn license. But what do I know, I’m just a coal shoveling engine rat making a killing in the oil patch.
[QUOTE=c.captain;129937]
FUCKING LITTLE SHITS THESE DAZE AND THEIR DREAMS OF GLORY BEING DRILLSHIP DPO’s! THEY THINK THEY’RE ALL KING SHIT WITH THEIR SIX FIGURE SALARIES BUT THEY WILL NEVER EVER BE SEAMEN OR HAVE MY RESPECT UNLESS THEY DO REAL MARINER’S WORK FIRST! GET FUCKING GREASY OUT ON DECK AND THEN YOU CAN STAND WITH THE MEN! LITTLE SHITS![/QUOTE]
ZIGGY: Well, Jesus H. Christ, you know what? All hands starboard. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. The old tub is listing, can you feel her? You wanna know why? 'Cause them old fucks done unloaded so much bullshit that this whole motherfucker’s gonna capsize. Brace yourselves, we’re sinking.
DOLORES: Goddamnit, you’re not taking your dick out in here again.
ZIGGY: Let me show you old gents some bulk cargo that none-a-you’s could ever handle. Who says they don’t make 'em like they used to? Pretty boy is on the town tonight.
SPAMANATO: Ziggy, man.
[QUOTE=coldduck;129950]Old-timey sailor skills? Is navigating, managing,loading,offloading and the like really old-timey skills? They will do none of that as a DPO.[/QUOTE]
I don’t know jack about DPO. Here is two things I do know. Drilling companies want to hire fresh grads. Fresh grads want to work on the drillships.
The third thing I know is; it’s hard enough teaching inexperienced mates what they need to know. It’s much more difficult to convince a mate with a couple of trips under his belt he’s doing it wrong.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
[QUOTE=LI_Domer;129952]
You guys should chill out and give the kid some advice instead of jumping all over him.[/QUOTE]
The problem, Young Domer, is this subject has been beaten into a pulp. A very quick use of the search function will show that many OSV and drilling companies will hire fresh mates with still dripping licenses so they can feed them company specific kool-aid and train them the way they see fit.
[QUOTE=coldduck;129950]Old-timey sailor skills? Is navigating, managing,loading,offloading and the like really old-timey skills? They will do none of that as a DPO.[/QUOTE]
A Sr DPO I worked with at Diamond several years ago asked me what the “night mate” job on an MMP ship did.
Simply explained to him the duties are essentially cargo load/discharge, ballast/de-ballast, tend mooring lines, security, handle visitors and vendors as necessary. Same duites for all the ships be they car carrier, tanker, container, bulkers. Union and non-union alike.
That took all of maybe 3 mins to explain in basic detail.
His reply was, and I quote,
“Man, I think I would shit my pants if I had to do that!”
That’s not a paraphrase or somebody else’s sea story. He was about 5 ft away when he said it.
He was already making about $700 a day, but he was too scared to take a deck watch of a cargo ship.
Good thing he had been out of school for at least 4 yrs working as BCO and DPO, because now he was clearly ready to go home and take c/m test after he learned so much in those 12 weeks of classes and his all encompassing duties as a DPO.
You are missing the point if you are going to take a stab at the pay aspect.
MMP is a union, unions take a good chunk of your money.
If you didn’t work for a union, at that time, your day rate would be higher.
I don’t know how to break it down any more “barney style” for you old salt.
[QUOTE=Johnny Canal;129962]A Sr DPO I worked with at Diamond several years asked me what the “night mate” job on an MMP ship did.
Simply explained to him the duties are essentially cargo load/discharge, ballast/de-ballast, tend mooring lines, security, handle visitors and vendors as necessary. Same duites for all the ships be they car carrier, tanker, container, bulkers. Union and non-union alike.
That took all of maybe 3 mins to explain in basic detail.
His reply was, and I quote,
“Man, I think I would shit my pants if I had to do that!”
That’s not a paraphrase or somebody else’s sea story. He was about 5 ft away when he said it.
He was already making about $700 a day, but he was too scared to take a deck watch of a cargo ship.
Good thing he had been out of school for at least 4 yrs working as BCO and DPO, because now he was clearly ready to go home and take c/m test after he learned so much in those 12 weeks of classes and his all encompassing duties as a DPO.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=KrustySalt;129960]The problem, Young Domer, is this subject has been beaten into a pulp. A very quick use of the search function will show that many OSV and drilling companies will hire fresh mates with still dripping licenses so they can feed them company specific kool-aid and train them the way they see fit.[/QUOTE]
Very true, but it’s no secret as to which one will learn tons more about being a mate.
[QUOTE=merchant.flyer;129968]You are missing the point if you are going to take a stab at the pay aspect.
MMP is a union, unions take a good chunk of your money.
If you didn’t work for a union, at that time, your day rate would be higher.
I don’t know how to break it down any more “barney style” for you old salt.[/QUOTE]
At that time, NO, drillship wages had not exploded yet. His daily rate was no better than full contract second mate. On an hourly basis his was worse.
I only included that because it was actually part of HIS question.
If he asked me what a mate on watch in port working for MTL, TECO, MOC, POLAR, or any other non union shipping outfit does as the mate on watch, the answer is the same.
Is that simple enough? And since you are so sure of unions taking so much money out of my pocket, go ahead and tell me how much it costs to join the MMP, how much dues are, how much is health care, and how much they take out of wages for union purposes. Please describe your vast union exposure serving as a Marine.
Just pull it right out your big purple Barney brain. Don’t look online; just tell me right now.
Make no mistake, this is not a pro union speech. I have been fortunate to find plenty of work across all forms of shipping… previous MMP companies lost to tanker strike of 1985ish, all union, half union, all non union, etc. Just like a bazillion other mates, engineers, sailors, etc., just trying to make a living and be completely free a few months of the year.
I don’t have to
[QUOTE=merchant.flyer;129977]I don’t have to[/QUOTE]
Why?
Too busy organizing that congressional enquiry that is going to make those meanies at the USCG give you bullshit day and half sea time?
Yes, the non-union outfits pay more than union, across the board. Always have, always will! Sarcasm!
You will soon officially join the ranks of tmacadet, oregonblitzcrieg and many others that have shown up disagreeing with more or less experts with decades of experience and quickly disappearing once their “peepee gets slapped.”
[QUOTE=z-drive;129986]Yes, the non-union outfits pay more than union, across the board. Always have, always will! Sarcasm!
You will soon officially join the ranks of tmacadet, oregonblitzcrieg and many others that have shown up disagreeing with more or less experts with decades of experience and quickly disappearing once their “peepee gets slapped.”[/QUOTE]
I don’t know if these cretins have suffered major head trauma in the past which makes in impossible for them to read and learn or if ther’re just plain ol downright stoopid?
I can forgive head trauma but I have no tolerance for all these bloody stoopid morons…Lord knows I’ve suffered too many already in this industry over the years!
Holy hell, stop with the stupidity! You are actually giving me a headache with the crap you’re spewing and your total lack of knowledge in the industry. All you do is cry and complain you get screwed and don’t put anything useful on here. GO AWAY!!
