I’m in the process of getting my z-card and hope to work on tugs. I’ve noticed that the jobs provide a good amount of time off. Sause Bros. offers a day of time off for each day worked. Crowley offered a 28-days-on 28-days-off position. My question is: Are you on-call during your off time or could you, say, go to Mexico for a couple of weeks. Like I said, I’m mostly interested in tugs, but any info about deepwater work schedules would be appreciated as well.
Thanks in advance.
[B][U]IMHO[/U][/B]…pretty much industry wide your time off is yours…just be sure and screen your calls…if they call you, call them back and exclaim “oh gee I am so sorry!! I am in Mexico right now”…just hope the boat isn’t in Mexico too!!
Ya your time off is usually yours, good luck with that job.
I will echo what the previous two posts have stated. Seadawg is right, though. If you want all your time off, SCREEN YOUR CALLS. Back when I worked for Crowley and other ocean tug/ITB companies, there was no caller ID. In one instance, I was living in Louisiana and working for Crowley, and was supposed to be off for 6 weeks (we were supposed to work 9 week on/six week off rotations, roughly three round trip voyages to SJ on, and two off). Three weeks in, I was out in CA at my folks house and got an early morning phone call from the Port Engineer. He told me that an engineer had quit and that I needed to be back by Friday. When I told him that I couldn’t make it by Friday (he called on a Thursday), he then told me that he meant NEXT Friday. Great. I can also say that while I worked at Crowley, I don’t think that I ever got the entire six weeks off, but I also made the mistake of living in Lake Charles, where the boats were based and was way to easy to get hold of.
Good luck getting the job. Sause Bros. is a pretty good outfit. I have worked for Crowley in both the Gulf/Caribbean and on the west coast. Like any company, I have my gripes, but I was happy to work for them.
As a crew coordinator, I’d be wary of turning down work in this economy. If I have a need, and I call for someone, and get no answer, or a turn down, the next hungry person on the list gets the work.
That gets remembered for future calls.
time off coffee time or overtime in any order is allright