I am a US Maritime Academy graduate with a US Green card, Panama & Marshall Island’s 3/M CoC.
Tried to ship out with cruise ship companies but obviously they are no longer hiring.
I reside in the US and am wondering if there are any unions I can join or any potential shipping companies that would hire me…
Thank you for any advice in advance.
No US officer’s union will have any billets for you without a US license. Your only option is to sail foreign flag.
You could join SIU and ship as an AB, you’ll probably make more doing that than shipping foreign flag as an officer.
Im looking forward to sail 2-3 years for experience and study Maritime Law so Ill most likely look for foreign flag offier positions… thank you
Sailing AB with SIU or SUP might be a very good opportunity for you, both in terms of experience and money.
All the drill rigs are foreign flag. They hire 3rd mates.
There are a lot of foreign vessels that work in the US oil patch under waivers. Recruiting and manning companies like Complete Logistical Services, WRS, Faststream, Oceanwide, etc place temporaries on these vessels.
Some of the US OSV companies have some foreign flag vessels.
I don’t know if MSC will hire ABs with a green card.
There are companies like Tote that have foreign flag branches (Tropical Shipping), and Crowley has foreign flag vessels. There are others.
Nice to see someone with ambitions!!!
I took the liberty to look you up on LinkedIn. With your background and ability to handle three languages (English, Korean and Chinese) you should have a world of opportunities in front of you.
As for getting some seatime on your CV before moving on you should not have much problems as long as you are not hung up in which flag and “filmstar wages”.
There are plenty of Ship Management Companies that crew ships of all kinds (incl.Cruise ships, Drillships and OSVs) for “absentee Owners”. They operate internationally, many with offices in USA. (Houston & Lauderdale)
You may Google V-Ships, Denholm, Wallems, Thome & Co, Wilhelmsen, Anglo Eastern to mention but a few.
If you are interested in top notch Offshore Vessels, try OSM: https://www.osm.no/en/OSM_Maritime_Group_Maritime_Offshore_Services/OSM-Marine-Offshore-Maritime-Crew-Management/
Thank you for the suggestions. I am interested in Offshore Oil and Gas but they require certifications such as HUET/BOSIET or FOET, rigpass/safegulf, OGUK medical and STCW Medical, MMC with proper endorsement according to a recruiter. Maybe they’ll hire me as an unranked/cadet and sponsor those certification courses. Will have to reach out to those companies and find out.
The first things you should get are a Twic card, US MMC endorsed for AB, Lifeboatman, etc., and a US Medical certificate. With a green card, you qualify for these. No classes to take or big expenses for these.
A Global Entry card is not required, but it’s a very good thing to have for international travel.
Some companies may require that you have the international vaccination record (yellow book).
If you get a job as a deckhand with one of the US tug companies, you will quickly earn enough money to be able to afford classes for BOISET, RigPass, etc.
Really appreciate the support and advise! I registered on OSM and started applying for job. Thank you!
Thank you for the helpful advice. I started the application for MMC renewal. I do have a TWIC and the yellow card.
The recruiters are probably assuming that you are looking for work on US flag and/or in US waters only. There is a BIIG market outside USA.
BOSIET and FOET are required everywhere, HUET only if you are likely to fly by helicopter (for crew change)
Medical Certificate, Survival-, Firefeighting- and First Aid-training are required on any kind of vessel per STCW.
Special Offshore Medical are required to join rigs, incl. Drillships worldwide.
Work Permit / Work Visa may be required in some countries, but being signed on a ship/boat that is legally operating in the country is usually enough.
The other things you mention (Rigpass/Safegulf/MMC) are specifics requirements for US operations.(??
OGUK is a UK requirement, but others MAY have special requirements now due to the pandemic.
RigPass (land/sea/ or both) and SafeGulf are basically the same repetitive introductory OSHA safety stuff. Its on the make sure you don’t trip over your boot laces level. As I recall, RigPass includes SafeGulf, but the HR girls at some bayou companies may not know that. I think you can take these courses online for about $100.
A similar, but better course is the OSHA 30, either general or construction. That can be taken online. If you work for a construction company that has government contracts, they may want this.
HAZWOPER 24 hour is a worthwhile course to have. Most companies that transport oil want you to have it. Any oil spill contractor will want you to have it. Some of the oil patch jobs require it.
I had a goofy unskilled AB on a tug. He showed me his resume. He had had a lot of temp jobs on big impressive oil patch vessels, such as the Maersk Developer. I asked how the hell did you get on as AB on the Maersk Developer? He said: “oh, I wasn’t AB; I was an “environmental technician” on the Maersk Developer. I got the job through one of the big temp agencies. I asked what that was and he explained that he had HAZWOPER. He said that HAZWOPER had gotten him a lot jobs. He mentioned that he had a Norwegian Seamen’s Medical, and that that had helped him get the job on Maersk Developer. I asked how he got a Norwegian Medical. He said that a company had sent him to the doctor to get it for a previous temp job.
My company sent me to an Indian doctor in Seattle for a standard USCG physical. This doctor also does Norwegian Medicals and UKOG physicals. I told him since I’m here, I want those too. I got the UKOG for about $150. He wanted $800 for the Norwegian Medical, so I didn’t do that.
Going to sea today, and working for oil patch companies in particular, is a time consuming and expensive paper chase.
Yes I don’t see many people acquiring extra certificates upon graduation. My colleagues end up joining AMO/MM&P/MEBA and work whatever jobs are on the board & available.
How does having a Norwegian Seamen’s Medical help him get a job on the Maersk ship? Would you recommend trying to attain OSHA 30/HAZWOPER/Foreign Physical? I heard from a foreign mate that Seacor and some Middle East companies have many offshore supply vessels, and if it is worth the hassle I will definitely try to get those certifications.
Hope you stay safe out there.
There are 13 Doctors approved to issue Norwegian Seamen’s Medical Certificate according to this official NMA web page:
https://www.sdir.no/en/shipping/seafarers/approved-seafarers-doctors/?country=amerikas+forente+stater&city=
Up to date such Medical Certificate are required to sign on Norwegian registered (NIS/NOR) vessels and rigs.
I don’t know whether such MC have any value on any other vessels. It is possible that there are some reciprocal agreement with other Nordic/EEA countries.
Maersk Developer is a big semi-submersible drill rig with a twin drilling tower. That may imply that it can drill two wells at once, I don’t know. It’s foreign flag, I have no idea which flag. It’s Danish owned. My guess would be that most of the key positions are held by Northern Europeans with Northern European credentials.
A lot of these temporary manpower companies with offices in Houston are foreign. Oceanwide is Dutch. Faststream is British. I think a lot of them are British.
Americans, and American licenses, are not well respected in Europe. Nobody outside the US accepts USCG supposedly STCW compliant Seamen’s Medical Certificates. Some job as say U.K. MCA Eng1 medical (or equivalent) required. I happen to have a Canadian Seaman’s Medical, which is equivalent to the MCA Eng1. The cost is about $100.
Some countries (e.g., the U.K.) do not accept USCG supposedly STCW compliant GMDSS certificates.
Now ask yourself why having some Northern European credentials might be an advantage, if you want to work for European owned temp agencies on European owned or managed vessels in the US offshore oil patch.
Thank you for the link. It says the Norwegian Medical is $250 by one office. I’ll do a research to figure out if it is worth it.
Where are you located?
I live in the Space coast area in Florida.
The Maersk Developer is flying Danish flag and is presently off Surinam.
The crew on rigs owned by Maersk Drilling is usually of mixed nationalities. Used to be some Americans among them, at least some years ago.
Drilling two wells at the same time from one location?? Well, not likely, since that would require two BOP stacks and wellheads on the seafloor.
It means that they can perform two operations simultaneously, like making up stands in one derrick while drilling, tripping, or running casing with the other.
PS> The Maersk Developer used to work in the GoM for Statoil some years ago:
https://www.infield.com/rigs/maersk-developer-semisub-60097
Dr. Grenet near the docks in Fort Lauderdale does USCG, UK MCA, Norwegian, and other foreign seamen’s medical certificates. He does them for the yachting trade and the cruise ships. I bet he does the UKOG medical too. He’s a nice guy who once did a USCG Medical for me. You can look him up on the MCA or NMD websites.
As another thought, don’t overlook yachting. There are some very pleasant yachting jobs. Most of the big yachts are foreign flag
I was actually looking at his office.
I have been applying for yachting jobs via Yotspot/ Bluewater Yachting. Unfortunately I just haven’t heard anything back.