Hi first I’m a 29 year old male with no family, no ties, no debt from Savannah Ga i have my MMC TWIC STCW95 and passport but unfortunately i have no mariner job experience. I have an extensive resume as a laborer in the construction field. but mainly Ive just traveled around from state to state living cheep and free.
Now, what i’m looking for: I want to be on a ship for as long as possible and travel as much as possible. I don’t care where i go, or what conditions i have to work in. i don’t care how hard the work is ( i stay in excellent physical shape and enjoy long days of physical work in the fresh air) and not that i’m looking to be taken advantage of but i don’t care what i get paid
( especially these first few years). I live life for the adventure nothing else.
my thoughts: since i’m currently in Savannah Ga i was looking at two options : 1) i go down to Jacksonville and join the Seafarers Union ( i’m aware it will take some time for them to find me a job and plan on staying at a crew house/seaman’s house and finding day work at a nearby marina to cover my lodging and other minimal expenses in the mean time)
2) i go to Louisiana and go company to company (with my pathetic looking resume) again staying in a crew house/seaman’s house and finding day labor until getting hired…
PLEASE ANY ADVISE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED RIGHT NOW! I JUST WANT TO GET TO SEA!
Sounds like you would like NOAA or another research type vessel, if you want long hitches to various places and don’t care about the pay… They always seem to be looking for people, probably because of long hitches and low pay.
Just get hired with MSC. sealiftcommand.com
Steady work, good paycheck, federal benefits, stay on ships as long as you like. MSC is perfect for single guys with no permanent home.
either MSC or NOAA would be a good fit for you since you say you don;t care about long hitch or low pay. The companies in the GOM will give you much better schedule and probably better pay but most likely you won;t get to go anywhere interesting (other than Fourchon). I would NOT suggest going to SIU, long tours, no steady job, sitting in union hall until you DO get a job (so no day work possible for you), will probably be a LONG time before they come up with something for you. MSC and NOAA will be similar but at least you can work while you’re waiting for them to go through their very long hiring process.
Your plan to go to LA sounds good but I would also give you another suggestion since you say your background is in construction. Maybe you might try going to TX and look around the Houston area at all the drilling companies. They are usually hiring for roustabouts and rig hands and you don;t need to spend the time and money for all the documents you will need as a seaman. They seem to move people up quickly and the pay and working conditions are similar to unlicensed marine positions. You might even get on one that is going somewhere interesting and tho you can;t get off in port (they won;t go to port unless for shipyard), you can probably stay over somewhere for a while after you get off. It is definatly MUCH easier to move up in drilling than in maritime so you could be a much better position in a much shorter time frame.
Sorry but I am a mariner and don;t really know anything about drilling, only what I have seen from working on a couple of drillships and talking to people out there.
Good luck to you
I agree on the MSC recommendation. They will keep you on there until you beg to get off and then they will keep you on there some more!
pretty hard to get relief, too