[QUOTE=z-drive;182434]yes. There’s no arguements Norwegians, Americans, and Mariners from certain other countries make excellent wages. Many from other countries don’t though.[/QUOTE]
What’s your definition of an “excellent wage”?
My last ship was Pride of America.
An Indian tailor on board, on contract for 4 years from NCL’s international fleet, made $2200/month. That’s 146,100.00 in Indian Rupees. An Indian sous chef on the same ship made $3500/mo. That’s 232,400 in Indian Rupees. An Indian 3M that I met on a K-Line car carrier in JAX said he made 5000/month. That's 332,000.00 in Indian Rupees. Those are not small sums in India, especially when you consider that although they earn what seems like small sums in US, they spend in their local currencies and their incomes are tax free if they sail 240days/yr. India also does not tax their Provident Funds (Their version of social security) after 5 years of continuous contribution. Even our social security income is taxed.
The same goes for the Filipinos. I had an American AB who works on an US flagged vessel, but lives in the Philippines (and no, he was not a Filipino, but a white American) and his rent for a 3 bedroom house there was US$200/month. He lets his vacation pay build up and collects it once a year, which turns into a tidy sum and owns a car wash and a laundromat there. For comparison,I pay $2600 for a 2 bedroom apt in NYC and permanently fighting for a parking space.
The point is, they all earn in US$, convert the money into their local currencies and that income is way above the national average income of their respective countries. Whereas, we earn in US$, spend in US$ and look at everything from the narrow prism of US$.
For them, after currency conversion, they’re making an excellent wage. In fact, I’d argue that, after looking at those figures and considering that, irrespective of nationalities, a sailor’s life is practically the same all over, it’s the American sailor who is not getting an “excellent wage”.