IMPORTANT: The easiest way to get hired as a deckhand on a tug is to tell them that you are a COOK, and that you are ready, willing, and able to buy provisions, and cook good healthy food to keep the crew happy, in an economical manner.
Cooking is the most important skill a deckhand can have. If you are a good cook you will always have a job, even if you are a piss poor deckhand.
If you cannot cook, learn.
Whether or not you put it on your resume, avoid mentioning it onboard for at least a while.
One of the contributors on here published a cookbook for tug cooks based on his years of experience doing that. Consider buying it if you want to try to be a tug cook as your way in.
Ah, thanks so much. So the tonnages overlap somewhat in terms of advancement. All this time, I was thinking that if you wanted to sail deep sea, you would have to get the AB via going deep sea from the very start, and this seemed like a challenging proposition. Good information. Does time on lower tonnages also count as time toward 3rd mate, but for smaller boats? Or do these officer rankings only apply to unlimited? Thanks again!
Excellent idea.
Time on vessels over 100 GRT counts toward 3rd Mate.
Some tugs will be less, most will be about 199 GRT.
Nice advice. As a teacher, one gets used to being needled, and speaking of substitute teaching in Brooklyn, I challenge any of you old salts to give that a go and see how you feel at the end of the day ;-). I view accepting the behavior of others with equanimity as part of my skill set. Some people just want to talk with people who have a different background than them, but there is a process to get there.
When you get your MMC and TWIC, especially if you can cook, call me. I’ll get you hired at $400 as an OS.
Oh yeah of course. I’d never go around trumpeting my worthless master’s degree. I am ashamed of it. It was a waste of time.
I can cook and budget fairly well. No formal training. How many people is one ordinarily cooking for on a tug?
Goat guy is another troll
4 to 6 is a typical tug crew.
WSF has partnered with MITAGS to fast track people into the wheel house 
They’re now covering tuition so only costs in housing/food.
Still will probably end up taking 3 years.
Goatloader considering your background and your age I am going to do something I only do rarely Look up MSC Yeoman/Storekeeper jobs basically a warehouseman They pay well the drawback is that you work for MSC and will find it very hard to get a relief when your time is up There are probably job postings on this website As a YN/SK you can travel upwards to Supply Officer and Purser It isn’t backbreaking work It does take a degree of intelligence to do well and you live relatively comfortably in your own room 99% of the time Best of luck young man
Interesting application requirement for somebody being trained to drive boats.
ChatGPT would probably be handy in this case.
I’d throw that application straight into the circular file.
I’m only interested in merit (which these days often means a warm body with the right credentials). I don’t give a damn about race religion or national origin, as long as they speak basic English. If anything, I prefer legal immigrant Filipinos, Latinos, and Eastern Europeans. They are often better employees.
The recent Supreme Court decision against affirmative action in education sets a precedent that will soon be expanded to employment. It will become illegal to consider diversity in hiring.
Thanks, that’s a thought. But can this really be that hard? Like, what about light people? I’m 5’7, 150. I’ve seen tons of these videos on international deep-sea ships staffed by relatively smaller Asians. On deck, people are chipping paint and painting. In the engine room sweeping, mopping up, maintaining machines. I have also read one commentary of a smaller woman who made it.
Where is the heavy lifting? The scenario I dread is one in which I am worked to breaking, and then work injured because I am doing something physically ill advised. Is it like that though? Curious to have your thoughts, and thank you!
Just want to say thanks to everyone who responded to this thread, even to suggest I am psychologically 4-F! All really good input. Seems like a great community of people.
In my experience college grads, people trained to be individualists, arent as good when it comes to watching and learning within the context of crucial work. And by crucial I mean building a bridge, fighting a battle. And much office work isn’t crucial. It is adrift and Darwinian where back biting and finger pointing is the culture. There is no cohesion. The cultures you mention are more collectivist as well. So I think there is truth in what you say. The hardest workers I have seen in NYC are Mexican, Haitian, Dominican guys who customarily work 75 hours a week. What do you think about the Jones Act?