Are you married and with kids?
Not married and donāt have any kids
MSC has been discussed on many posts here. Check them out. You will definitely get seatime, as reliefs on time are not their strong point. Bank your cash from working overā¦ Training is a good point, itās free when you get time off. . The pay aināt too bad and most part food is decent. No kids or wife may work out.for you.with MSC for a time, maybe not. Biggest thing in my book early was to get quick seatime and make some bucks while doing it. And paid training, which nowadays aināt cheap.
Officer trainees (cadets or ratings on a defined training programme):
ā¢ Prospective offshore DPOs on the new scheme who are in the process of training for an STCW certificate may complete the DP Induction Course (Phase A), the 60 DP sea time days (Phase B) and the DP Simulator Course (Phase C). The remaining 60 DP sea time days (Phase D) and the subsequent suitability sign-off (Phase E) must be completed only after they hold an appropriate STCW Certificate of Competency.
ā¢ Candidates who completed Phase B when they were a cadet are not allowed to claim for STR in Phase D of the training scheme and must complete a minimum of 60 DP sea time days in Phase D.
As I understand it, there are "defined training programme"s that allow a hawsepiper to get the ball rolling on their journey to becoming a DPO. I know of an AB who is attending classes at MPT and has been allowed to do so.
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@Chief_Seadog es it is still very easy to hawsepipe. Using myself as an example, in 2020 i decided to quit my 9-5 day/land job to become a sailer with zero sea experience. Yes i had 12yrs experience as Reefer on land. My goal was to move out of U.S and move to a cheaper third world country.
Long story short, I got hired by MSC (Military Sealift Command) in May 2021 after getting my MMC, I got my first hitch in July and after 188 sea days, i skipped oiler and passed my QMED Reefer/Electrician endorsement test in March, 2022. I got promoted to Refrigeration Engineer and iām currently sailing as a permanent electrician. Still with MSC.
I plan to take the QMED FOWT test in March so that i can get my Junior Engineer endorsement and sail as Junior Engineer until i get the necessary sea days to test for my 3AE. I should be good to test by 2025. So in conclusion, in 2025 i will be 3/AE in just about 4-5years.
Thanks to @Chief_Seadog @Ctony , @SeaEagle , @tugsailor and etc. They provided a lot of resources and encouragement when i decided to do this 3yrs ago. You can reach out to them and iām sure theyāll be willing to help. You can also reach out to me and iāll share my experience to help you.
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rustee and similar probably good advise. i came up the pipe but sure appreciated āformalā schooling when it was possible.
Thank you highly appreciated
Congratulations @HawsePipeEngineer on the progress youāve made and that you have been able to keep your goals in focus. One of the biggest huddles is not the sea days required to get a (3AE) license, it is all the assessments required for OICEW. That is the change that made hawsepiping a much more rigorous path.
For prospective engineers, one should be aware of and become familiar with NVIC 17-14, starting at page 20. Print out the Record of Assessment for OICEW (Pages 116 - 125). Many of the assessments can be satisfied/signed off by taking classes which makes the journey expensive if not available from employer or union.
Itās the same for prospective mates (different NVIC and set of assessments).
Edit: I meant to include this link: USCG NVIC 17-14
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@Chief_Seadog
Thank you sir. I couldnāt have done it without you guys. I have actually started working on my OICEW assessment on my current ship. I should be able to get it signed off by the time i leave the ship next month. After that then i will take the advance firefighting, advance First Aide & Lifeboat. I am already scheduled to take the high voltage class in February.
Within the same 4 years, you can end up with the same license as a newly licensed/graduated academy person, but have 4 years of deck or engineroom experience already.
As someone who has recently gone through the entire process, this is something Iām going to disagree with BIG TIME.
You are not getting a Third Mate/Engineer license in the same amount of time as a maritime academy.
Letās say you sail 8 months a year, which is optimistic in itself, youāre looking at 4 1/2 years to get the sea time. Add the nearly 20 classes you have to still have to complete for the STCW endorsements, all of which you have to sporadically take at one or multiple independently Coast Guard approved schools, since most donāt have scheduled programs with classes back to back that you need, at best and this is trying to support you, add another 6 months to that 4 1/2 years. Weāre at 5 years, and that doesnāt include the time you took finding, signing up, applying for AB or QMED endorsements or the Coast Guard processing times for that or the eventual Thirdās. Donāt forget the study time for the Coast Guard exam. If weāre being optimistic, and you are a true go getter the fastest youāre doing it is 5 1/2 to 6 years. A realistic number is 7 or 8.
Time will be cut if you choose Third Engineer route, as there are less STCW classes. Time will be cut if you go Military Sealift Command and sail 11 months a year because no reliefs.
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Take a good look at the SUNY two year deck program. Itās cheaper. You graduate with a mate 1600 license but itās the exact same exam as 2nd mate unlimited. You can get a raise in grade to 3rd mate with seatime on an unlimited ship.
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