Sock puppet for Jeaux Bawss
No, just not an angry, lazy, bitter a-hole.
Those rates seem pretty decent, do you know if that’s all in with vacation or just the dayrate? I see there’s a couple of tanker jobs open board right now, guessing that might be the “newest” one flagged in?
Yes that’s the newest tanker NOTE the other ones pay much worse. There’s a reason there’s a bunch of those MMP tanker jobs on the board…. I think they are the longest contract for foreign going tankers in the US fleet besides Stena Polaris (AMO) which is also 120 days. All other AMO foreign tankers are 90.
However, MMP has finally allowed the jobs to be called early/ put on the board after 90 knowing they are gonna have a tough time filling the jobs. Expect to sail over - it could be months before you get a relief. Heard they had to sign on two third mates on one of the smaller tankers because they couldn’t find a 2nd mate in MMP willing to go out -even one without a PIC.
When I did the calculations that was all in with vacation and 12hour work days. So multiply that by 180 to get a total years wage. They get no OT unless over 185 OT hours a month. It’s kind of messed up and confusingly worded but it basically summarizes to the company can basically work you 12 hours or more per day and not pay you any OT.
Funny that the only liker of this comment is a Seattle version of Jeaux Bawws whose website says basically that they’re gonna work the shit out of you but don’t bother applying if you expect good pay.
From what I see in this thread is that CTI wages are on the upper level of limited license jobs—and really, not that much different than wages on unlimited tonnage jobs.
Of course, if you broke daily-pay rates down on a tonnage basis the container ship captain would be making way less than the fish tender captain. But things aren’t usually broken down on that basis.
And of course the CTI Mariner averages about 10.5 hours a day of work versus… how much elsewhere?
And thanks for plugging the website!
https://www.coastaltransportation.com/crew
One of the few websites that explains in detail what seagoing life is like. No bullshit. No happy talk. No p.c. No smiling blue-haired people. Just the facts, Jack Webb style. Pay, scheduling, etc. And lots of videos documenting it.
All of which seems quite attractive. Otherwise why would CTI be sailing two mates on most of its voyages when only 20% of its voyages require two ? Because of the great oversupply of mates in the USA right now? No.
Because we have always paid for transportation? Maybe.
Because we schedule people as much as a year in advance? Perhaps.
Because of the company’s focus on realistic safety training? (See other thread.)
Hard to say why such a small company of highly competent mariners of unusually hardy and intelligent disposition should be so popular right now. But I do thank you for the kind words!
As far as I can tell, Coastal has the top pay, or close to it in Seattle.
I may be mistaken, but what I’ve taken from @freighterman1 and his companys website is, don’t expect top pay till you prove you can cut the mustard. There’s a range for every position and it takes time to get near the top of the scale…or maybe i got that misconstrued?
I would say this is the bottom line. If you’re able to keep your vessels fully manned (plus spares), then sounds like you should keep doing what you’re doing.
As long as the “I’m lucky to be alive and getting whatever pay they offer” crowd is around, it should be just enough.
At least, just bitter then.
There used to be at least 4 guys available for every job. We used to see Union guys on tugs while they aged their shipping cards before going to camp out at the union hall. We used to see a lot of kids fresh out of the Academy as deckhands. At times, there were a lot of fishermen coming over to tugs. It used to be that kids wanted to work on tugs. Those days are long gone.
The quality of tug younger crew has gone way down, and there aren’t many of them. Less experience, less education, not as smart, fewer skills, less interest in learning to become good at the job.
The maritime job market is now in balance. There are enough mariners to fill the jobs, but no surplus waiting in line at the door.
Even today, a company that constantly looks for good crew, is somewhat selective, offers top pay, pays travel, has decent benefits, provides training, provides internet and other crew comforts, including an unlimited food budget, has good , well maintained boats, and a good attitude toward their crew, this company will have enough quality mariners knocking on the door.
At a crappy company, management is frantically running around trying to respond to crises, find enough crew, dealing with crew drama, etc. That company is forced to hire unqualified people and turn them loose. That company is in chaos and may be losing contracts and have boats tied up for lack of crew.
At a good company, management is focused on serving customers, making money, and growing the company. One or two people can take care of crewing. They have enough quality crew and fewer crises. Management doesn’t need to take time away from business development to respond to daily crewing crises.
Maybe on tugs but elsewhere? No. Unions are offering officer wages to fill unlicensed positions. Reliefs are frequently late. GOM recruiters are constantly berating mariners with job postings. Offshore wind is starting to build traction, and the private space industry is also seeking mariners. Wages are starting to rise, if slowly. It will take another decent industry wide raise to truly secure adequate manning.
This is about my experience in hiring also. But @tugsailor’s experience and mine are just two data points, and from the same part of the USA. So hard to say whether it is part of a trend, or outliers.
US Offshore Wind is advertising for crew, and they strive to hire quality mariners and operate at high European standards, but most of the day rates offered are $200 a day too low.
People leave offshore wind for more money in the oil patch, or union deep sea.
Offshore Wind should be offering the best day rates, not the lowest.
Any ideas on who might be crewing this bad boy up when it’s delivered? Looks like a joint venture with Chouest and Orsted/Eversource. Bet the quality of life on board would more than make up for the slight dip in pay if there is one…
I would imagine that Chouest will be operating it and crewing it up.They’ll probably offer the jobs to their favorite long term employees. Hopefully, this contract will go well for them.
Chouest is crewing it, unfortuently I feel it’s going to be a shit show because most of our deckhands at chouest are sub par these days. Mostly ghetto disrespectful from Jax. Maybe 20 percent are worth a shit in the fleet.
Your “average 2nd mate” is low 3rd mate pay at AMO, your Chief Mate average is mediocre 2nd mate pay and your Captain average is decent Chief Mate pay.
Maybe you’re right. I’m just looking at posts like this, from this thread::
“AMO TSP tanker (including vacation benefit 30/30, not including holiday pay/penalty rate)
Master- 1295/day”
We have captains who are within 5% of that captain pay.
“3rd Mate on an ROS Marad LMSR with AMO. $313.53 Paid everyday although off Sat-Sun-Holiday.
OT $57.41”
I take it this is correct info. That’s below our average AB pay. But I could be reading that wrong. Another post:
" OSG…
Probationary 3M: $618/day ($311 for holidays)
3M: $731/day ($355 for holidays)
2M: $850/day
CM: $1050/day
Capt: not too sure at all but probably around $1250-$1350"
Sounds more like the numbers you mention. But…
Top captain pay here is not much different between the two. Which was my only point. Mate pay here is harder to assess, because there is no “second mate license” required. A second mate on a fish tender is just an additional mate, something which optional on most of our boats. The second mate pay listed is entry level mate pay, but not all second mates sailed are new mates.
The additional mate may have been around for one year, or twenty. Pay could be between $550 and over $900. Depends who the second mate is. And the same guy might be the only mate next voyage, or the chief mate of three mates aboard . Their pay doesn’t change with position. A mate who makes $700 as chief mate makes $700 as third mate.
So, it’s a different system than unlimited tonnage vessels, I’m not saying our people make more than unlimited tonnage officers. I’m saying, in the scheme of things, I’m surprised that the pay for a 3000-ton license officer is not radically different than that of unlimited tonnage officer, considering the earnings power of a 50,000- ton tanker versus a 1900-ton fish tender.
Of course, the skipper on an Aleutian fish tender routinely lands his vessel without tugs in 80-knot winds. He navigates the Inside Passage as his own pilot, under the authority of the PPA. He has to know every hidey-hole along a 2,000 mile arc of land to avoid bad weather, and he has to know when to run and when to hide in one of the roughest seas of the world. And he has to know how to chain a pickup truck on deck to survive 40-foot seas, and the intrinsic hazards of loading cod livers in a minus 20-degree cargo hold in close proximity to salmon fillets. So maybe it isn’t a mystery after all.
This is for ships that don’t move, of which there are not many. It’s low paying because they go home most nights at the pier. When they do move and go on FOS they make closer to $900 a day for 3rd mates including vacation.