I have been talking with Tidewater Angola looking into either a suppy or FSV crewboat job. Looks like it will be 90/45 in Luanda and wanted to hear some of the god bad and ugly about the place. I know Angola is an armpit of a place but if your stuck on a vessel for 90 days it really might not matter much anyway. Hope to hear from you soon,
Frank
Frank,
Do you have a POC over at Tidewater I was interested in them and I already mailed them my application.
Hi
Not sure what you mean by POC sorry been a bit out of touch for awhile. I think they will take just about anyone who will go to Angola becuase most dont including myself
POC- point of contact
Thanks for the clarification Ordianary Seaman,
Frank do you have a telephone number for anyone at Tidewater? I have an application with them.
I worked for Tidewater Angola in 2003, mainly in Soyo and Luanda. Don’t expect any quality time in town. Stay away from Malongo because all vessels stand-by just offshore on buoys except when actually being loaded and unloaded. I never really went into Soyo very often because when I was there they were still gearing down from the civil war. If you do decide to work there ask about flying on the Houston Express for crewchange, which is a direct flight to and from Houston to Luanda.It is about a 15 hr flight. I never made in less than 36 hr by any other carriers.
If you want to work in Africa I would reccomend applying with the West African division which covers all of Africa except for Angola and Nigeria. You stand a much better chance of seeing nicer places and getting some quality shore leave.
Working over there is not for everyone. Some take to it while others don’t. Give it a try, at the least you will have some sea stories to tell.
Good luck.
I worked with a bunch of South African’s 5 years ago (a good bunch of guys!) who said Angola is relatively safe. That being said my recent plans to travel their where canceled after a “security event”.
My advice… get a subscription to Global Rescue and add the security package. In addition to extraction if you have a medical or “security” problem* they will also provide you with an in depth security report for the country.
http://globalrescue.com/maritime/
(*not that they can rescue you before the first bullet arrives but…)
I worked in tidewater in 1992 in Egypt I would like to go to angola to work with them and I want the Email of tide water their can you help me
I was unaware that tidewater still had crewboats in their fleet. Interesting…
Actually, they do have quite few of them in Fortaleza area, Brazil
I’ve worked Angola on and off for 30 years. Last time was 2005 through 2011. Tidewater usually sends new hires to Malongo in Cabinda province, with the hands who have been there a while getting the Luanda or Soyo jobs. You’ll probably never set foot off the boat working out of Malongo. You anchor offshore when you are not running, and only come along side long enough to load. There is often a very large swell in the anchorage, hell of a surge alongside the dock and strong currents offshore. I worked one hitch there for Tidewater - never again! I mean, I’ll never work for Tidewater again. Working out of Luanda isn’t so bad…
Luanda is an easy harbor to get in and out of, though it can get pretty crowded. You will not get any shore time there either, but doesn’t feel so much like being in a prison camp as Malongo. Your crews will be mostly Angolans and Filipinos, with plenty of Eastern European officers… Actually, I find the worst part of working in Angola is the trip between the airport to the ship.
Soyo is fast growing jungle port a few miles up the Congo River. It’s not a bad place to work and probably the only place you’ll actually get ashore.
Good luck.
[QUOTE=walvis;105297]I’ve worked Angola on and off for 30 years. Last time was 2005 through 2011. Tidewater usually sends new hires to Malongo in Cabinda province, with the hands who have been there a while getting the Luanda or Soyo jobs. You’ll probably never set foot off the boat working out of Malongo. You anchor offshore when you are not running, and only come along side long enough to load. There is often a very large swell in the anchorage, hell of a surge alongside the dock and strong currents offshore. I worked one hitch there for Tidewater - never again! I mean, I’ll never work for Tidewater again. Working out of Luanda isn’t so bad…
Luanda is an easy harbor to get in and out of, though it can get pretty crowded. You will not get any shore time there either, but doesn’t feel so much like being in a prison camp as Malongo. Your crews will be mostly Angolans and Filipinos, with plenty of Eastern European officers… Actually, I find the worst part of working in Angola is the trip between the airport to the ship.
Soyo is fast growing jungle port a few miles up the Congo River. It’s not a bad place to work and probably the only place you’ll actually get ashore.
Good luck.[/QUOTE]
100 % correct. This place is called Malongo Paradise.