[QUOTE=jdcavo;73968]Not USCG, Congress. See 46 US Code 8104(g)(1). Congress writes the US Code.[/QUOTE]
Thank you. Our company sent out that Code, but what we dont get is that according to that Oilers should be divided into 3 watches. But if only 2 are required on the ship, how can you divide them into 3 watches? You cant. So the oilers work a normal 12 hour day like everyone else, alongside everyone else, but yet only get 8 hours of sea time, and they get 12.Thats 100% BS.
Goods point. The people that write the COIs need to be made familiar with that law and require three oilers even on boats that work two watches. Our the uscg needs to petition congress to change the usc.
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;74045]Goods point. The people that write the COIs need to be made familiar with that law and require three oilers even on boats that work two watches. Our the uscg needs to petition congress to change the usc.[/QUOTE]
What the NMC doesnât understand is that the people who write the COIs are familiar with the law (much more familiar than the NMC is), and it is perfectly legal for an oiler to stand a 12 hour watch under certain conditions. Level of automation, whether it is OCS work, etc. The Manning Requirements arenât written by idiots.
The us code specifically says that oilers CANNOT work 12 hour watches. There are no exemptions like with other personnel onboard for working 12 hour watches, ever.
Some laws are sometimes enforced and some laws are sometimes overlooked. Very little actually gets done right by the book.
I realize that. My comment was in response to deven claiming that oilers can be allowed to work 12 hour watches and that the nmc is wrong.
I think this is missing the whole point. On the vessels where an oiler is required, if the complement says two are required, then only two are required. BUT they can only work 8 hours a day. So there would be an 8 hour period where NO oiler would be on watch.
You miss the point of what I wrote. The people that write the COIs need to stop requiring only two. They do so thinking 12 hour watches, like the reast of the boat, but that isnât allowed. Or the usc needs to be changedâŚ
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;76028]I realize that. My comment was in response to deven claiming that oilers can be allowed to work 12 hour watches and that the nmc is wrong.[/QUOTE]
You can call me wrong, but it doesnât really matter, as the NMC has decided to interpret it this way and it is damned difficult to get them to listen to anything. Iâve done it, but it took a lot of work and research on my part with a little help.
I think an easy way to get by the literal and narrow interpretation of a single paragraph in the code would be to get your Junior Engineer endorsement and sail as that instead of as an oiler. I donât see why a company or captain would have a problem discharging a QMED as that, since it is probably more in line with what QMEDs are doing now a days anyway.
Iâm not an engineer, but as I understand it, a 3 week class and 60 days of seatime will get you a QMED rated Oiler. Similarly, there are other short courses for ratings as Electrician, Junior Engineer, Deck Engine Mechanic, Refrigeration, etc. with substantial seatime credit just for taking the classes. This sound like a good deal to me.