In Leonard Lambert’s “The New Hawsepipe” he shows the since AB and 3rd Mate both require 1080 days and ambitious person can work hard and qualify for both nearly simultaneously.
I don’t remember the exact numbers but AB special and AB limited require fewer days than AB unlimited.
AB unlimited 3 years
AB limited 18 months
AB special 12 months
AB osv and AB fishing industry 180 days
And AB Sail
NATIONAL ABLE SEAMAN § 12.401
AB Unlimited – 1080 days deck service on Oceans or Great Lakes.
One of my classmates (and engineer) was denied a license because he was colorblind. Why they didn’t find that out before he was admitted, I don’t know. But he was a legacy admission, and that may have played a part. . . .
Don’t despair. It’s possible to crew as AB on unlimited tonnage ships with less than an AB unlimited. Again I don’t remember off the top of my head the exact number or percentage that can be taken on but someone here who is currently active would know or else you can look it up yourself.
The standard for an AB isn’t 20/20 even corrected if I remember correctly. You cannot get a rating as an Able Seaman if you are blind in one eye or missing an eye or if you are tested and fournd to be color-blind. I have sailed with more than one Bosun who did not have a rating as A.B. One SIU Bosun out of Houston who was missing an eye and a finger was refered to by the deck department (showing a lack of sensitivity by today’s standards) as the “Bionic Bosun.”
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Was there ever (and it would have to have been a long time ago) ever a restriction on PRK or LASIK?
If you’re going to sail bosun mate at MSC become a specialist on one type of vessel. The bosun on USNS ZEUS knew his stuff inside and out on a cable layer. A couple of years later I ran in to him on a west coast AKE.
At the time west coast sailors made a lot more than east coast and he (and I) made the switch for the $$. He told me he felt useless as he was completely unfamiliar with AKE ops. He was soon gone. And from what I heard his replacement was just as lost on ZEUS
A great example of my point: Howie G., bosun on USNS GRAPPLE, was an expert on his vessel and he was the one who briefed both civmars and Navy Salvage Teams on how and what was going to occur on salvage ops. That’s the level of expertise to go for, wherever you are…
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