Do mariners with OS get to choose where they trip? If I want to go to Bahrain, Napoli, or Yokohama can I just call my dispatcher and say “yo, put me in there,” or do I have no say at all?
Also, how do these fleets work? My assumption is a ship stays in their fleet’s seas, because they all have their own zones. For example, I never saw tugs from St Louis fleets in Cape G, or Louisville, but rivers are my only refernce. Thanks.
Tardy,
You be be much more employable to MSC or any other bluewater company if you get your AB. You can get a limited AB working brownwater.
I already have a start date. Wasn’t hard to get hired, everyone’s desperate.
Do I get shuffled around and trip two weeks to my next ship, or do I stay in one port forever? Could you be a little more descriptive?
Damn man, do you know what you signed up for? There are no two week trips.
A trip in my lingo means “riding over on a different boat, instead of going home”. So I’m asking will I need to ride over two weeks on another ship, if I want to work in another port, after my four months of duty.
Do entry levels all work in Norfolk? Who decides if we’re sent to Guam or Singapore? How do I work in every port, on every type of ship?
@Lee_Shore what’s so bad about Bahrain, is it sharia law?
Yeah, even so, there are no two week “trips” as you would call them.
I’ll let someone else who currently works for MSC elaborate on the details.
Bahrain isn’t so bad if you’ve never. Definitely gets old after a few weeks. Far from sharia law if you hang out in the right places.
I appreciate the answers.
I’ve got to say, I admire the enthusiasm. You just might want to temper your expectations a bit though.
I don’t work for the Military Sealift Command, but please remember that the word “military” factors heavily in the title. You will probably be lucky to know where you are going before you arrive there. This will not be a pleasure cruise. It will certainly be edifying though.
Best of luck to you
The Military Sealift Command? Military Sealift Command.
Totally false.
You’d be surprised how some of the assignments are.
But, due to the scale of the organization you could have a great time or a terrible time and every trip is a roll of the dice.
Sounds like everyone’s a floater. Is the only way to stay in a port to work my two weeks leave?
Also, I was told my foul weather gear’s provided, but the new employee book doesn’t say I can’t use my own. Are they going to order me not to wear my frogg toggs?
Your questions make no sense dude. As a first time OS with MSC you arent gonna be trusted with anything and you will do NOTHING important alone for a while and always be told what to do and when to do it, Leave it at that, youre going to be working a ridiculously easy job and getting paid alright for it.
God bless the candor but good lord…
What the hell are you talking about?
You will get on a big ass ship and you will not get off for 6 months. You will go wherever that ship goes and have no say in what port it goes to.
I think you need to do some more research into what exactly you’re getting into.
Y’all are posting in a troll thread.
I was with MSC for about a year and a half, then I moved to rivers because six months on/one off isn’t enjoyable for me.
Assuming you’re an east coaster, you’ll be stuck training in Norfolk for a month or two. While you’re there, talk to people in the pool with you about what ships they worked on and where they went, and then inform your detailer that you’d like to work on a certain ship. All MSC detailers are brain dead, so this will do little good, but it’s your best shot. I myself worked on a vessel that spent a lot of time in Yokohama, got a lot of opportunities to go out and explore Tokyo. Best case scenario, you get your dream ship, they go to a port you want for a while, and you aren’t a watchstander so you can take a weekend off and grab a hotel. The worst case scenario (which is much more likely) is that you end up trapped for six months minimum visiting ports barely compatible with human life
Time to put down the video game, walk up to the kitchen from the basement of Mommies house and
experience the modern day shipping world! Good luck.
If you go with MSC, you will be sent where you are needed most with little choice. Tours are 6 months plus time needed to get a relief. Sometimes it takes forever to get relieved and then you only get a month off. The best thing about MSC is the training available. The ships are more modern with better accommodations now. I spent a lot of time on WWII and Korean war vintage ships.