Well they only have like 10 boats working in the gulf and five are “newer” vessels. The others are 20+ year old stretch jobs. The newer vessels are probably in fairly good shape. The older junk well you can polish a turd but its still a turd. If you are assigned to the old junk the following items are required.
Current tetanus shot
Bible, Rosary beads, prayer rug, Gris Gris sack or whatever your religion calls for this is for all the prayer you will do nightly to be able to make it through the next day
Some type of respirator to be worn at all times because in the entire life time of the vessel the HVAC ductwork has never been clean and you will probably get legionnaires disease
A brand new pillow because the ones you find onboard will be yellow orange and reek of head sweat
Some type of mattress cover to put over your mattress which may very well be an original piece of equipment
Shower shoes to wear while walking on your stateroom deck will probably not have been swabbed in God knows when same goes for shower
4 pair of work clothes purchased from Goodwill to throw in the garbage when you leave you will not want to bring any creepy crawlies home with you
The best thing to bring are some filled out applications for other companies to drop off while you are down in the area
Also bring a nice set if clothes for the above mentioned interviews
To further make smart ass comments from original post you won’t need 14 shirts. By the third day of cramming stinky shirts in your locker the whole stateroom will be foul. Most cellies will have threatened you with bodily harm by then. Your clothes will have been thrown in the passageway before you will have a chance to let 14 stinky shirts pile up.