Again, I see no reason why most tugs should not be paying the same day rates as Coastal Transportation.
If Coastal can pay top wages, so can the tug companies.
1 Like
They would scare away the customers if they worked at Buccees
7 Likes
They pay that much because they’re very competitive positions that earn a lot of money for the owners.
The fact is that a lot of people working on tugs couldn’t hack it as a Buccees general manager.
I think it was Kennebec Capt that brought up that most maritime positions don’t actively make money, they avoid losses.
1 Like
But they won’t until they have to. As long as they can fill their positions at the lower wages, they have no reason to raise them.
I call this the AMO effect.
3 Likes
Jackson’s pay seems good. Just a little below ECO.
One rumor I hear spread around a bit about Jackson is for crew changes you get your full pay if you’re stuck at home and extra pay if you’re on the boat over the normal crew change day, which means Jackson boats get priority CC’s by Shell.
Could be scuttlebutt, however that is a huge incentive if true.
1 Like
Having worked up in Western Alaska with another company for a while I think they should pay more, they earn every penny.
Terrible conditions, bad weather, constant daylight, can’t keep a steady crew, working 6 months straight or so.
Lots of reasons why I’d not take a job up there again personally. Not for me.
I say that to illustrate that It’s a different world than a cushy little harbor tug working out of Fort Lauderdale, NY, Philly or Houston, or any other towing job I’ve had throughout the years.
It’s a full bodied experience for the entire crew from the top down.
I believe they even had a stipulation in their ads “this is not an easy job, the days are long and the work is hard” etc. I believe it too.
3 Likes
I love Bucees and addicted to their brisket sandwitches. Not sure what opiod they slip in there but they have me hooked. Anyways I would last 1 day at Bucees. The fact I hate crowds and people in general is why I work on tugs. Month on month off only and the only thing i want to hear about work on my month off is what day is crewchange. Pay and benefits are rising again so we will see what that will do for the seemingly endless turnover. Seems to be a bidding war for Mariners and after the last 5 years and I will take it.
5 Likes
One difference between tugs and CTI is that a voyage at CTI is about 24 days. The boats are on a scheduled liner trade out of Seattle with a 28 day turnaround, so they have to cling to that 24/25 days pretty closely.
How CTI captains do that, given winter weather, is amazing. They (as well as Alaska tug captains) know dozens of hidey -holes in the 4,000 mile run where they can anchor and let the worst of the fast-moving storms blow over before continuing on. Knowledge of the Inside Passage is key. Using the IP allows a captain to elude the worst of the heavy weather a lot of the time. Weather software has shaved days off of voyages nowadays. But heavy weather is still a fact of life.
The crews at CTI are constant enough that most are scheduled a year ahead of time. Having a cook aboard (that does nothing but cook) helps. The pay for the senior ABs is $500/day because they are experts at cargo stowage: brains more than brawn. A new -hire AB only makes $350, but then he doesn’t have any cargo stowing skills yet.
Years ago I tried sailing in warmer latitudes. It bored me stiff. And I ran up a lot of doctors bills: every time a fair-weather sailor told me how tough he was I’d unhinge my jaw laughing so much. 
2 Likes
Why is it whenever I try to make an objective pay comparison to other industries, G-Captain forum nearly always comes back with self hate and excuses that we should make less money?
Of course every marina isn’t going to be a GM on land…the only position that compares to that is Capt/Chief engineer. But what about the lower level positions? They pay the same or more than at sea.
Any sailor on board a ship actively makes money for the company. They may not be directly billable per hour to a client like a plumber or a lawyer, but the vessel will not move without them. Compare this to office worker overhead staff…
STCW requirements made hawespiping much more difficult for deep sea guys. The reduction numbers of surplus officers has been finally allowing for wages to rise. Hopefully tug guys can get some of these increases.
3 Likes
Not just deep sea guys. A guy getting his 500\1600 ton master is has to take every single class STCW class an Unlimited Master takes now.
The grey wave is going to hit peak crest in the next 5 years. I can think of 10 masters at my company off the top of my head that are planning to retire or forced out due to health issues in this time. Sure there are plenty more that I don’t know that will leave in that time also.
Couple that with at 40 I’m the youngest master at my company l, and have been for a few years. All the younger guys are Academy guys, how many of them are going to stick around once the drill rigs start throwing money at the again?
So the way I see it with the amount of talent leaving and the competition from deep sea and drilling wages for the academy guys things in the OSV sector should be pretty good until they replace us all with AI unmanned vessels.
1 Like
For all reason mentioned, Alaska should be worth more, a lot more. Certainly more than a day boat job.
However, most of what the companies are paying for is a warm body with the right license. They want talent and ability, but they don’t really pay much extra for it.
3 Likes
Not sure about extra pay, but both crew that was supposed to get on and crew that is stuck on get full day rate for late crew change
1 Like
There is a drawback to “Mariner Shortage”. You get stuck with worthless layabouts that realize they can’t get fired because there is no replacements. I left a company because they kept bringing back worthless crew I did not want back aboard claiming they couldn’tfind anyone else. Once one realizes he can’t get fired it spreads like wildfire to the rest and the entire crew spends their watch on facebook while the boat becomes a wreck.
10 Likes
I didn’t get salary until getting on the drill ships. Master/OIM base is typically $200,000-$220,000 in the current market, 15-20% of base annual bonus, and same % with stock options. Some companies have an uplift of 15-30% depending on where in the world the assignment is. (West Africa = highest uplift). If taxable, the company will cover that resulting in most federal taxes being refunded. It’s not unusual to be over $300,000/year, but you earn every penny. A few years ago, when the industry was struggling, base bottomed out at $187,000.
2 Likes
How many days a year?
Even time. I don’t know of any other schedule on drill ships. You get double pay for any day over.
2 Likes
What about for Chief Engineer? Or equivalent to master on the engine side?
Also, can an engineer get an OIM endorsement? I see the CFR says an ABET engineering degree qualifies + some training and experience requirements.
AMO MARAD Contract day rates for FOS. Includes Vaca pay and assumes 4 hours OT 6 days a week.
Captain/CE : $1300
CM/ 1A/E: 1100
2M/ 2A/E: $920
3M/ 3A/E: $800
2 Likes
Stevens Towing in Charleston, SC
OS: $200/day per recent posting. Chief Engineer and Masters of Towing aren’t listed on the job board.
1 Like
About the same, slightly less. When I worked C/E on an overseas rig it was right at 300k after bonus, overseas premium, and tax incentive. Month on/month off. That was a couple years ago.
It wouldn’t matter much if you did, I don’t think there’s a company left that doesn’t require the OIM hold a Master unlimited.