Why single out KP and not others? Most do honor their commitment contrary to popular rumor/belief. Quite a few took the MSC route. And left because of the many comments discussed here. No timely relief.
)))) well, maybe his price is $2100.
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Maybe because KP is free? And the rest of them are not?
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That reply was not unexpected.
Then why ask the question? How can a government agency require someone who paid for a private education work for them?
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They are entitled to choices, as well as privately educated mariners. You forget perhaps the 5 year commitment most honor to the service of their choice which is not required of the private academies. They earned it. They alone will no way solve the MSC problem.
Why?
Air Force Acadmey = Air Force
West Point = Army
USCGA = USCG
UNSA = Navy/Marines
Why does KP get free rein? Send them all to MSC for 5 years. Maybe itāll help.
They owe that service because of the FREE EDUCATION. Private school sailors can do whatever they want because they PAID for it.
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Have a nice day sir.
And not a single one of the other federal academies allows the service requirement to be fulfilled with reserve duty.
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Why go full blown MSC when you can conmar it ?
And the ones that are so bad that they actually do get run off wind up getting hired by contractor companies before their feet touch the ground because theyāre all so desperate too that they donāt give a rip about why they āleftā MSC.
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Most KP grads in fact do not complete their full sailing obligation. The numbers are staggering. And nobody has had to pay back the money. It needs to change but nobody from MARAD or the Navy seems to know how. SSOās from state schools have a higher hit rate fulfilling their sailing obligation (still not a great hit rate), and they could also be a part of an MSC requirement. Itās not a shot at KP itās just the truth.
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The ROTC kids at each of the state schools have to fulfill their obligation the same wayā¦Those who paid fully themselves and did not commission obviously should not be required to do anything haha that would be crazy.
The MSC assistance from KP might not solve the problems but I canāt see the downside of trialing it over a 3 year span? Or at least say you must either work MSC or sail American flagā¦all the kids who go straight to the shipyards after graduating are not helping.
But this is almost a totally different discussion.
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I remember years ago when a MEBA picketer got in trouble for telling a reporter how much he made and saying it was not enough when factoring in time away from family and general working conditions. We used to be almost ashamed of making so much money for doing what most people saw as an adventure.
I suspect that the perception of shoreside workers who live from paycheck to paycheck that mariners are overpaid is zero emission fuel for the anti Jones Act crowd.
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Not really, if KP were open to existing mariners for upgrade and recurrent training and really was a merchant marine training facility that served both licensed and unlicenced merchant mariners and the U.S. flag shipping industry instead of using MARAD as a slush fund for a shadow military school it might be worth keeping open,
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I donāt know if KP is responsible for upgrade and training but they definitely are responsible for advocating and bolstering the USMM officer force, that currently needs mariners all over.
Until marad actually enforces the sailing obligation, all of the grads will continue to take it lightly, and the USMM will suffer for it.
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Iām in favor of closing KP, the state schools alone can supply officers for the US flag fleet.
Unless, like you said, KP was open to all US mariners to upgrade their licenses/documents.
MARAD has a High School Campaign and there is a large and growing number of maritime high schools. The maritime academies put out enough graduates to fill all the billets we have. Hawsepipers would love an opportunity to raise in the ranks if MARAD paid for their upgrade classes.
The problem isnāt a lack of people. The problem is that kids today have way more and better quality information about the profession than we did growing up. They see an industry thatās still lead by people above the age of 65 and they see very low pay and difficult working conditions for Chief Mates and 1st A/Eās. They see Captains making a lot less than airline pilots and other jobs that interest them.
I know because my son is looking at colleges right now. The shipping profession is a hard sell. When he searches on youtube (they all use youtube and tiktok now) he finds very few happy people saying anything nice about the profession. When searches for airline pilot heās overwhelmed with content from happy and well paid pilots.
We are an extremely camera shy industry from the very top down.
These kids are smart. The overbooked enrollment at places like NYās Harbor School proves their is a strong natural desire for many kids to join the profession. Getting those kids (and academy kids) to actually sail though remains difficult because they do their homework and find very little positive content that encrouages them to sail deep sea.
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I think this is a sad reality of the situation. At least airline pilots get to sleep at a Hilton or something, ive got a crusty ass bathroom that probably never even looked clean when it came out of the yard. I have friends going into avation where they are getting paid $100,000 when they start classes, if i were 17 and looking for a job where I wasnāt home half the year, you bet Iād be flying planes. Shit, Iām tempted now. Its hard to make happy content, shoot, Madeline who is probably the best American Maritime Content Creator we have, got her publicity from getting stuck in a shipyard for months.
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Joe Franta has a good YouTube channel. His is pretty real and raw at times though haha. Itās a good insight into the industry and he seems like a solid dude.
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