For your reference, I have very limited knowledge of what life is like as a merchant mariner. First off, the biggest reason holding me back from pursuing this career is my girlfriend does not look forward to the time I will spend away from her. I plan on becoming a 3rd AE by obtaining the USCG engine license through a maritime academy. How is it as a 3AE? How likely is it to obtain contracts that do not require consecutive months at sea? I heard 3AE’s make very good money right out the gate and I will be able to pay off my student loans relatively quickly as well as having a lot of time off which makes it sound very appealing. I am desperate to make a change in my life and do whatever it takes to be successful. Also, I already have an ABET-accredited B.S. in Mechanical Engineering if anyone has advice on the most efficient way to obtain the unlimited USCG engine license because it has been very tough finding information online and with the current state of the economy, I have very low hopes of finding an entry level job. I appreciate any advice or guidance anyone has for me.
your asking for the moon!
the only thing i can help you with is that I’ll take good care of your girlfriend
Simple path is something like Washington State Ferries. Once you’ve been around a year or two your schedule settles down to a daily grind. You sleep at home. The money is good. The pension is respectable.
I’ll mention the Staten Island ferry, as well as the NYC DEP boats. Or even working on something of smaller tonnage like workboats and tugboats, or as port engineer, or as an ABS Surveyor. Those types of jobs are out there, it might just come down to figuring out what you want to do and where you want to live. If you really want to work as a pure “3rd AE” on unlimited tonnage ships though, the jobs is mostly away for months at a time. You also have a mech eng degree already. You could leverage that into getting a job as a project engineer or project manager in a shipyard. With a BS in Mech Eng, you should be having no trouble finding good paying jobs right now. If you want travel-contract type work, I’m sure it’s out there, and you won’t have to spend all this time and money trying to re-specialize into marine engineering.
Ferry work is great
good pay and benefits, you get to sleep in your own bed at night
the only draw back is the monotony I always felt that it was like running in place, no change of scenery, the job gets mindless after a while.
only routine maintenance, they bring in people from the outside to rebuild and replace machinery and systems, so its pretty much a routine, i always felt like i was in prison same thing day to day