The more things change the more they stay the same I left 25 years ago (1997) and the same crewing problems being discussed now are the same exact problems we faced when I was there
Due to lagging morale/not being able to get releaved, are there more safety issues happening on MSC ships than, say, SIU ships? Seems like depression, stress, hostility towards MSC in general, could start (is?) causing shortcuts to be taken, or maintenance things simply not getting done (I know as an 11M in the US Army Infantry (decades ago, sigh) that PMCS was key to our Bradleyâs usually being mission ready).
BTW, sorry for newbie question, but is it âthey are waiting for reliefâ or âwaiting to be releaved?â Either? Or something else? For some reason that ârâ word doesnât seem right whenever I use it here.
You are relieved by your relief 
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Gotcha, thanks!
(and being âreleasedâ is something totally differentâŚ? 
)
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Maybe not. Depending on how long you were waiting for a relief, it might not be that different from being âreleasedâ from involuntary incarceration.
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Dirge of the unreleased MSC captive
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Years ago there was a 1-800 number you could call that connected you to the Inspector General if you had trouble getting off the ship. I shared it with a Engine Utilityman who was weeks overdue. The C/E offered him ships funded leave. He just wanted to go home, didnât want to come back to the platform. Had long planned personal events and just wanted off to attend.
It worked. He went to the top of the list after explaining his plight and a new Utilityman was on the way. Master and CE werenât happy with me but nothing they could do.
A story told to me was of a CIVMAR also past his requested relief date and kept getting the run around from the ship, office and had enough. During a port of call in Dubai he visited the U.S. Consulate and told them he was being held a prisoner against his will. Donât know the outcome but you gotta give him credit for thinking outside the box.
No one should have to fight to get off on time. In my opinion msc should have adapted the commercial model decades ago.
When the agency doesnât care of the importance of crew rotaion you will have morale and a host of other problems. It seems to be only getting worse.
The waterfront knows the reputation of MSC and getting relieved on time. Been that way for many years. Ever wonder why msc depends on job fairs for bodies? Not a coincidence.
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The secret I heard was when you were overdue say âmy back hurtsâ and youâre stateside instantly.
That might work if the gangway is down but otherwise youâll just go on the sick list and be spared from duty.
That was also before COVIDâŚ
Had an AB do this in Houston.
The Sheriff Deputies were not impressed when they showed up and found out she didnât want to pay the cab fee to the gate.
MSC is broken and has been for years. Why the CIVMARS donât ban together and demand action from congress i do not understand.
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Healthcare is if you retire from federal service, with I believe 3 years of federal employment before retirement and at least 5 years total, something like that. Agency matching is up to â5%â which is something like 1% no matter what plus another 4% if you put that in, something like that. TSP has lost its edge of lowest cost funds. The pension is something, may be worth it if you knock out your high 3 at sea and then continue your government service in some cake normal job.
If you donât care about going home, and can tolerate bullshit, MSC is ok. But even then your probably still better off going commercial. Maybe itâs better to say that if you never want to go home, and you want to live on a ship for years and years, and drinking and whooring is up there on your priority list, then MSC is for you.
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âDivde and Ruleâ
-Phillip II of Macedon-
I think direct hire even at the 1/O level poses some unique challenges and a huge learning curve. Itâs a completely different animal unless coming from a GOCO background.
Rehire of Masters, from retirement or those that left for whatever reason (on good terms) could help with the lack of experience Iâve seen with many fleeted up due to the unprecedented need.
Yes. There have been several deaths, a suicide on a bridge with a service pistol, and many more suicides at home.
It will vary by ship, and they arenât all bad, but MSC is a breeding ground for terrible people abusing power. I would say poor morale has been a major contributor to the deaths of mariners in MSC.
They need to shift their priorities to getting morale up if they want a chance to succeed.
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Change their slogan from âWe deliverâ to âWe relieve on timeâ. Make it the utmost importance to get people home on their relief date. Iâm talking regardless of whether they have a relief or not. Relief date comes and youâre going home, no matter what. 835? Whatever excuse? Donât matter, youâre going home on time, no matter what.
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Drop the bullshit. Buddy system, liberty restrictions, uniforms, beard bans, etc. Whatever the admiralâs latest bright idea is for making his civilians more like active duty military, needs to end. Professionals donât want to be treated like the lowest common denominator in the Navy.
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Fall in line with the rest of industry standards. Iâm impressed they still have people sticking around to be honest.
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When I was Second Mate I had no relief was due for my Reserve duty and walked. I was threatened with removal but had a friend in employee relations and ended being paid for my time waiting for a flight, back pay and airline ticket. I also received an apology of sorts from the office. My next assignment was First Officer so it pays to stand up to the tyrants in the office. I was late being relieved after the overdue relief award was instituted. This time I was in no hurry so I volunteered to stay for the extra 25 a day. Everyone was happy.
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Everyone thinks their ship is special. Everybody thinks their mission is special. A competent professional can jump in and catch up to speed very quickly. Just like a true gig musician can jump to completely different bands/genres and do his job.
A big problem with many companies is the lack of cross pollination. Bringing outside ideas from working in other companies is a huge benefit toward continuous improvement. Sorry, many people have âbeen doing this for 20yrsâ completely wrong.
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That doesnât always work. I had a badly sprained finger on my left hand to the point I couldnât do my job as 2/O. I tried to get a non fit and the local commander at the MSC office claimed that I should be able to navigate with one hand.
I donât know of any Commercial Masters or ChMates that have much if any experience moving or stowage requirements of ordnance, UnRep, VertRep, Naval messages, ComSec/Crypto management, Force Protection (maybe), and more. Yes, an astute person could pick these things up along the way but I have seen absolute failure when hiring ChMates from the commercial world. Itâs a culture shock and if you havenât come up through the ranks at MSC, there are a lot of things that are left undone but ultimately become noticed during the never ending inspections. It takes years to make a good ammo/cargo Officer and even some at MSC who have risen to the ChMate position have little experience as many have been promoted due to lack of manning. All the more reason for the Master to have a clear understanding and working knowledge of everything that is required. If you disagree with that, it only reinforces my position. To be effective, you have to understand the process and the many idiosyncrasies that accompany them.
If a prospective employee meets all the requirements in the POA and submits truthful KSAâs and are selected, great! The overall caliber of personnel seems to be declining across the board. The answer( in my opinion) is retention of the right people. How to do that is in the hands of the wizards back in Norfolk. A lot of things I donât know about in the Norfolk office but they are trying.
Perhaps on the Engineering side of the house this may work, machinery is machinery and Engineers also have the ability/luxury to move shoreside without much trouble as well.
MSC is hiring if you arenât already there! Give it a whirl!
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