I won’t name the Pilot organization in question but I know a guy who was taken into a State pilot organization who got in because of his father that had NO and I mean ZERO maritime experience and was literally working at a liquor store before he started his apprenticeship and is now bringing in post Panamax container ships. It’s shit like that that makes me skeptical of the whole licensing rules period. You damn near have to study the CFRs constantly to stay up to date and even then the REC and National Maritime Center can interpret a CFR differently on any given day. I’ve spent 21 years going to sea mostly tugs moving large oil and bulk barges but 5 years in the CG on small but over 1600 ton vessels and haven’t been approved for an unlimited license yet a guy from a liquor store can bring in some of the largest ships on the sea because his daddy got him the job. At least a lot of the pilot organizations have gotten away from the nepotism of the past but not all of them. I know on the East Coast they Get around that by have one family member in the docking pilot organization and the other with the state pilots. I’m not sure what the answer is to the situation but my opinion on the matter is that if companies want to require ATB operators to have unlimited licenses, and that seems to be the trend, then the CG should allow ATB operators unlimited time for the full amount of service. If we are being honest an ATB for all intents and purposes is a small ship that actually has less sea keeping ability than a ship of the same size which requires better judgment of weather routing and voyage planning. The engine Dept may not have the complexity of a ship but the navigation is the same. We have equivalent draft, beam, cargo, and stability issues with less crew, less safety equipment, less training requirements etc but even those of us who want to get unlimited licenses are hobbled by convoluted licensing and tonnage rules. If you can take the classes required and pass the exams you should be able to get the unlimited license without the restrictions on tonnage. I would understand restrictions on steam or things like that but if the combined tonnage of the tug and barge are over 10,000GT, especially considering the way the CG allows tugs to get away with tonnage hatches to get around rules, we should be gaining unlimited time… just my opinion.
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