Hello GCaptain salts! Looking for some advice from you all. Particularly any SUP guys. I currently have my AB Special. I have been taking a break from maritime work for a while but I may want to get back out there. My last unofficial job last summer was on an old salmon tender in Bristol Bay on which the four of us almost died on multiple occasions and before that I did a short stint in MSC as an ordinary mostly standing watch, prior to that I worked for a few years in Alaska on halibut boats and in GOM on a liftboat.
So how hard would it be to get on an SUP ship with an AB Special as a non-member with no seniority? Hard? Impossible? How long would one in my position typically have to wait around the hiring hall? Is it a thing where you have to be there in person all day? If I was going to have to spend some time in the city I would probably have to have a job to support myself in the interim. I’ve never done union work and dont really know what to expect at all. Which hall should I go to? SF, Seattle? Also I have been considering making a switch and going into engineering. Would there be any chance of a job as a wiper? Is this advisable or should I just try to get an AB position? I know f***all about engineering but I like learning things and working on things and solving problems and it seems like there is more opportunity to do that in the Engine dept. As much as I enjoy steering the ship, I dont really want to spend the rest of my life perfecting the fine art of the needle gun.
With that being said I would definitely take a job in deck dept. if I could get one.
Any advice is appreciated, no matter what it is. Thanks for helping me through a confusing time in my life. Cheers.
You have heard of a ‘hail Mary pass’? That’s what you’re trying to do. Impossible? No. Probable?.. You probably have a better chance of making a snowman on Hawaii. Try to find a job on smaller stuff, until you get the required seatime to get th AB upgraded.
All the APL ships on the Suez run are called out of LA hall and as far as I know SUP doesn’t have any engineering billets. MFOW has those. SIU has both deck and engine.
[QUOTE=seadog6608;91007]No chance whatsoever. You need at least a limited to work on big ships. Use the search function.[/QUOTE]
AB-Special can work on vessels over 1600 GRT. See 46 U.S. Code 7312, up to 50% of the ABs on a vessel over 1600 GRT can be either AB-Limited, or AB-Special. But you may be right in the sens that one’s chances of getting a job with AB-Speocial are small.
even though it is ‘allowed’ most companies nowadays don’t even want to deal with ensuring the 50% or 66% clause is met. they just want to fill all the billets with AB unlim, so they can Fugedaboudit.
It might be a long shot with your qualifications, but your best opportunity is now. Right before the holidays there are usually more jobs posted, and many of the more senior guys won’t be back in the hall until January. Why don’t you go in and talk to the rep at your closest SUP hall and see what they say?
What about as a wiper? Surely there are at least a few entry level billets on SUP ships? Arent there rules regulating that at least so much of the crew is wiper, OS, etc? Hell, I would even take a job as an OS really. At least I could get more seatime in the process and upgrade to Limited or Unlimited eventually. My main goal right now is just to get out of the states and make a little cash. Hopefully on a ship going to Singapore and not a jack-up sitting of the coast of Nigeria (ugh).
[QUOTE=Highball;91124]What about as a wiper? Surely there are at least a few entry level billets on SUP ships? Arent there rules regulating that at least so much of the crew is wiper, OS, etc? Hell, I would even take a job as an OS really. At least I could get more seatime in the process and upgrade to Limited or Unlimited eventually. My main goal right now is just to get out of the states and make a little cash. Hopefully on a ship going to Singapore and not a jack-up sitting of the coast of Nigeria (ugh).[/QUOTE]
SUP is deck only,OS,AB,Bosun. Wiper and other unlicensed engine room are a different union, Marine Fireman,Oilers and Watertenders.
[QUOTE=sfmariner;91136]SUP is deck only,OS,AB,Bosun. Wiper and other unlicensed engine room are a different union, Marine Fireman,Oilers and Watertenders.[/QUOTE]
Highball, getting a wiper job in the MFOW is almost next to impossible, unless you have a few spare months to sit around the hall. We currently are in need of electricians and reefers if you ever make it that way. PM me if you want more information.
[QUOTE=Highball;90995]Hello GCaptain salts! Looking for some advice from you all. Particularly any SUP guys. I currently have my AB Special. I have been taking a break from maritime work for a while but I may want to get back out there. My last unofficial job last summer was on an old salmon tender in Bristol Bay on which the four of us almost died on multiple occasions and before that I did a short stint in MSC as an ordinary mostly standing watch, prior to that I worked for a few years in Alaska on halibut boats and in GOM on a liftboat.
So how hard would it be to get on an SUP ship with an AB Special as a non-member with no seniority? Hard? Impossible? How long would one in my position typically have to wait around the hiring hall? Is it a thing where you have to be there in person all day? If I was going to have to spend some time in the city I would probably have to have a job to support myself in the interim. I’ve never done union work and dont really know what to expect at all. Which hall should I go to? SF, Seattle? Also I have been considering making a switch and going into engineering. Would there be any chance of a job as a wiper? Is this advisable or should I just try to get an AB position? I know f***all about engineering but I like learning things and working on things and solving problems and it seems like there is more opportunity to do that in the Engine dept. As much as I enjoy steering the ship, I dont really want to spend the rest of my life perfecting the fine art of the needle gun.
With that being said I would definitely take a job in deck dept. if I could get one.
Any advice is appreciated, no matter what it is. Thanks for helping me through a confusing time in my life. Cheers.[/QUOTE]
Denis Bielenberg! M/V Trinity, lol you know who this is.