I certainly would not want to work on vessel without autopilot, or for a brain dead company that would disable its autopilots. Obviously, Turdwater has too many shitheads in the office who have hired too many other shitheads for the boats.
Unless you have extra crew to do the hand steering, you cannot properly navigate and communicate on hand steering.
Agreed. Unfortunately bringing down policies and procedures down to the lowest common denominator seems to be a rampant practice at many oilfield companies. Almost any form of incident no matter how minor will typically result in rule by LCD. It is probably one of the most frustrating things to deal with. I have seen some bright and sensible things happen in response to incidents recently. Either there is hope or I am just not jaded enough yet!
A lot of collisions/allisions lately. Just heard a “mayday” call from some guy around ST 271 saying he was hit from behind while at anchor. Then he proceeded to tell the CG there were no injuries and they were headed in to Brownsville.
I agree, it can get crazy sometimes!! Like when a guy gets hurt using a hand tool (hammer, wire wheel, folding knife...) and all of the sudden they want to ban the tool from been use onboard the vessels.
This is one of the big reasons why working in the oil patch is such an undesirable “lifestyle” as compared to most other seagoing opportunities. Its why the oil patch has to pay a lot more money to get people to put up with this happy horseshit.
This crap is starting to pollute other areas of the industry, and soon there will be few places where a mariner can actually go be a mariner.
Having Companies Manage by “Panic Management” is nothing new and can happen anywhere,
Back in the Early 80’s a Tug Company Banned the Use of Autopilots after one of their tugs came out of the Company Dock and hit a White Ship, Broadside in broad Daylight. The crew was bringing the boat out after being Tied Up and the Captain must have set the Autopilot as soon as he dropped the lines and preceded to Fall Asleep.
I agree too many times an accident happens then the office bans the use of said ‘item’ or ‘practice’.
Indeed, that is why some of us are proud to not chase the dollar and glory, but rather work for good employers who have experienced Mariners in management/ownership. While they may not listen, I take comfort in knowing if I ever needed to I could call the ownership of my company and express concerns directly if not addressed properly in the chain of command.
Its only the top half dozen OSV companies that are (or were) paying more than we can make at the average tugboat company. Most of the Gulf jobs pay less, often a lot less.
We are unaffected by the drop in the price oil, or if anything as the overall economy grows on lower oil prices, we should have more and better opportunities outside the oil patch.
Container Ship traffic is up and they seem to be getting deeper in the water. Thats good for us. Hopefully that boot on the neck of the average consumer (gas) stats low for a little while longer. We all need a breather.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;154073]Its only the top half dozen OSV companies that are (or were) paying more than we can make at the average tugboat company. Most of the Gulf jobs pay less, often a lot less.
We are unaffected by the drop in the price oil, or if anything as the overall economy grows on lower oil prices, we should have more and better opportunities outside the oil patch.[/QUOTE]
I recall the bust years of the early 80s when I was at sea. We were unaffected by the down turn on tugs. Every time we came back from the Caribbean to Cameron, more and more jack ups were being stacked in the Calcasieu. It was like someone was sowing Beth Rig seeds. What was old is new again. I had no problem staying employed back then, especially on tugs and the new fangled ATBs. In fact, I even got a pretty good deep sea offer, but turned it down for personal reasons.
[QUOTE=cmakin;154119]I recall the bust years of the early 80s when I was at sea. We were unaffected by the down turn on tugs. Every time we came back from the Caribbean to Cameron, more and more jack ups were being stacked in the Calcasieu. It was like someone was sowing Beth Rig seeds. What was old is new again. I had no problem staying employed back then, especially on tugs and the new fangled ATBs. In fact, I even got a pretty good deep sea offer, but turned it down for personal reasons.[/QUOTE]
The tugs were put on hold for years during and after the 333 strike. There was a tidal wave of scabs from the gulf. The problem then was that a towing endorsement wasn’t required to run tugs. The repair yards stayed busy though…
[QUOTE=injunear;154122]The tugs were put on hold for years during and after the 333 strike. There was a tidal wave of scabs from the gulf. The problem then was that a towing endorsement wasn’t required to run tugs. The repair yards stayed busy though…[/QUOTE]
Yeah, there were some real winners in the wheelhouse. . . . without naming names, Belcher comes to mind. My last vessel. . . . and my worst. . . . appropriate, I guess. . .