Some years ago, after I retired from sailing ( US-flag), I took up an employment which took me onto many foreign-flagged ships in port.
For awhile, I was not happy with my work. I really wanted to go back to sea. One day I boarded an absolutely beautiful, one year old crude oil tanker. There happened to be a Senior Superintendent on board, so I approached him. I told him about my credentials and my experience and suggested that there might be a possibility for employment. He replied to me, “Mr. _______ , with your experience, you would probably be an excellent employee on our ships. …But I cannot hire you.” “[I]Why not?[/I]” “It is because you have a US Passport.” “[I]What difference does that make?[/I]” “The rest of the world sees you Americans as a litigious society. If I hire you, our P&I Insurance Premiums will go sky-high. If you can get another passport, we might be able to hire you.”
I’ve met several Canadian mariners on these foreign-flagged freighters and tankers. I’ve met several mariners, who live in the USA, but they still have a passport from their homeland and they work with that. I’ve only met one American mariner and he was a Captain on a Passenger Ship, (Texas Maritime & ex-USN).
I know that Americans get hired for service on foreign Drilling Platforms and DP Heavy Lifting Ships in the high tech sector of the Offshore Petroleum Industry. Expertise is wanted there and the Offshore Industry will pay whatever is needed for that expertise.
Good luck!