US Shipping was acquired by Seacor and merged into Seabulk Tankers. Their four ATBs are AMO, unlimited tonnage license required as well as a Tankerman PIC.
Also they are the highest paying ATBs as far as I have seen. They are on the same AMO contract as Seabulks MR Tankers.
do you actually need an unlimited license for them or did they just want you to have an unlimited license? From what i remember the tugs are not over 1600 tons. there are quite a few ATBs larger than them. Just curious
They run them unlimited tonnage licenses only. To answer your question technically yes you could run them with 1600 ton mates, but they do not want to open that door. Especially not since the coast guard was giving unlimited tonnage sea time on them. Tugs are 12K horsepower so unlimited licenses on the engine side no matter what. They have them mixed in the tanker fleet, so they like being able to move people anywhere needed.
You are correct. COI requires two towing endorsements onboard, so they routinely bring over junior mates and get them to the toar class after their first tour.
Regardless of the minimum requirement the vessel must be under the control of a properly licensed officer at all times. Any Captain letting a junior mate stand a watch by themself without a TOAR or towing endorsement is putting his head in a noose.
They are always run in compliance with the CFRs, flag state, sire, SMS etc. Top notch ATB operation over there. Fine professionals especially cargo wise since they move a lot of high spec chemicals.
I was just trying to clarify if that was a company requirement. That seems to be the case. It doesnāt really make a difference if the coast guard are handing out unlimited tonnage time for it or not.