Thats what i thought also.
Why not try SIU to get PIC and then leave , you get the PIC and that all I want.
I am also wondering how you get a pic as a mate? No tanker companies will hire a mate without a PIC, so how do you get it bedsides SIU?
Even with PIC Assist most companies dont want assist. They want full pic.
Any suggestions would help.
Thanks
Get it before you get your license or you’re screwed.
Thank you, that means you have to sail unlicensed or as a cadet to get it.
Wish i was told or figured this out earlier.
Or you can take time off and make some siu trips.
Thanks
I’m under the impression that the tanker companies won’t hire a mate or an AB that does not have at least an endorsement as Tankerman Assistant, but Tankerman PIC is definitely preferred.
It’s not to hard to get barge time for Tankerman PIC- barge.
There are a handful of little harbor tankers around too.
Some places have shoreside Tankermen.
SUNY Maritime. First and Foremost - in not properly informing their students of their best career path.
Not true, I recently sailed with a recent suny grad who did that a yr out of school. She got pic as AB with SIU. i am still curious who told her to do this, and when i gradatued (diff. State school) yrs ago we were not told. Actually we were told nothing.
I think it is a friend tell friend thing.
I may try that , and my ass is old, if i want to sail tankers.
They all want Pic, assist is only good for unlicensed.
This topic is being discussed on a SUNY Maritime thread and much like your “diff. State school”, no one there tells the cadets jack shit about what they should do to increase their opportunities for employment on graduation. A Tankerman PIC means you should never go hungry for work if you want it.
All of the schools should do better in preparing cadets for the real world. Fumbling your way into the industry is getting harder and harder now a days.
I agree
Chevron runs ads specifying a minimum of Tankerman Assistant. I don’t know if they actually hire any
I have long said that the academies should operate a tanker and provide Tankerman PIC endorsements for everyone as part of the program.
Similar for towing.
Similar for DP.
The academies have an out of date deep sea only focus, that does not take into consideration the shrinking fleet or where the jobs are.
There is a shoreside Tankerman company in the Gulf that operates a fairly expensive “school” providing Tankerman training. It sounds mostly like a scam to get a lot of free interns who pay to be trained for their future employment. I think it’s barge focused training.
Pretty sure when you fill out app on internet. When they ask if you have ; assist or nothing, you are sent to round file. They most likely look at pic .
The academy I attended had a tankerman class offered that gave you tankerman PIC. Additionally if you cadet ship on tanker you can do 90 days and get it that way.
This was either more than 22 years ago (during the transition to the Tankerman endorsement requirement), or it’s just BS. The academies are approved for the course for Tankerman-PIC only. IF a cadet gets time on a tanker, and gets the required number of transfers, they get PIC, if they don’t they get Tankerman-Assistant. Academy graduates have never been issued Tankerman-PIC if they didn’t get time on a tanker and the required cargo transfer.
While I was frustrated with the process of getting a sector-specific endorsement, I don’t believe the academies should offer PIC, MOT, or DP.
First because it weeds out those unwilling to work on deck or as a junior mate for a while. Work boats are different from deep sea, and many crews want to see a work ethic in someone before letting them run the boat.
Secondly, it will drive up the cost at the private training centers. I just don’t think it’s right for taxpayers to subsidize such specific training for graduates who will be making more than enough to pay for the training themselves. One or two hitches as a Mate and the courses pay for themselves.
I dunno, I’ll argue that the PIC course won’t do you any good until you get your loads and discharges, so you’ve either been a deck cadet on a tanker and gotten your “junior mate/deck” time in at $21/day slave wages, or you’re getting them after graduation as an AB somewhere.
Now MOT and DP, yeah, I absolutely agree with you. God help me if I ever get a green third mate from my alma mater that thinks s/he’s a DP god because they came out of school with it. Especially on these cranky POS Marine Technology DP systems.
Academies substitute a “program” with only 180 days of supposed “seatime”, instead of the normally required 1080 days of seatime, for 3rd mate and 3ae.
No reason why the academies could not also get a “program” approved for Tankerman - PIC with reduced seatime, maybe 30 days instead of 90 days, because it part of an academy “program.” No reason why the academies could not build and operate small harbor tankers to provide seatime and loads and discharges.
If an academy can offer 3rd mate and 3rd ae, and degrees in business, marine biology, emergency management, power engineering, etc., it certainly ought to be able to offer a Tankerman-PIC program too.
As for DP, the practical limit of a program would probably be DP Induction, 30 days of DP seatime, and DP advanced. A significant advantage entering the job market.
If my tax dollars are going to be spent on academies, I expect them to produce the best practical product with versatile skills that serve the needs of the maritime job market. I don’t want the academies wasting my tax dollars training minimally qualified 3rd mates, so they can sail AB, or be landscapers or bartenders.
Academies compete for the best students. The best way to attract the best students is to offer the most value. Academies have an obligation to prepare their graduates for success. If an academy attracts the best students, and provides them with the best preparation, it will be the best academy.
Every academy wants to be the best, but the complacent fools that run the academies have no idea of how to accomplish that.
Well, sadly, very few people of quality want to sit around and fly a desk at a dumpy maritime academy. Thus they are run by lazy hacks for the most part. All of them train you to operate a Liberty ship, and cut you loose out of the gate. It’s sink or swim after graduation. And yeh I’ve never heard of anyone taking an academy class to get Tankerman PIC. That just gets you Tankerman Assistant. Still have to do real loads and discharges somewhere.
While I agree with you in some aspects, I believe like other colleges, the academies are there to give you a basis. Each graduate is responsible for finding their own path, and each path comes with it’s own challenges.
Want to sail deep sea? Gotta pick a union and wait. Want to work tugs? Gotta get your TOAR and MOT. Wanna work in the oil patch? Gotta get DP time. I’ve seen a lot of my classmates choose to sail on 100t or 1600t near coastal cruise ships. And you know what, that’s fine! Because the trade off there is slightly lower wages and dealing with passengers.
I believe making the academies responsible for teaching DP or PIC or MOT will only increase the competition after graduation, since anyone and everyone now has these credentials. Those that sail generally make more than those shoreside, and the financial cost of these classes deter many from sailing. Which is good considering there’s a couple hundred new 3/ms coming out of the schools each year.
There is a reason. The CFR allows a program as a way to get 3rd Mate and 3rd AE. The only program allowed for tankerman is a crossover program for DL to get LG, and vice versa.
