Seafarers International Union School vs Attending an Academy

Professional Mariner Forum
61

You’re wrong. Check it up.

Yes, but there is also plenty time to learn, instead of getting bogged down by sea life. Why do you insist on making a cadet’s life miserable? Just 'coz your life is miserable in the Fourchon and/or your cadetship was miserable? Chill! Let a cadet enjoy his 1st term sea life. He has his whole life ahead of him to become miserable.

First off, the terms are too short for a cadet to get 15 loads/discharges in just one term. I’ve not sailed coastal, but even then, from my chats with fellow shipmates, he won’t get sufficient loads/discharges in just one term. Consider that from sea buoy to sea buoy, it’s at least 3 days sailing, one way, either on the WC or the EC. On the Overseas Santorini, Corpus Christie to Ashkelon is a 26days sail. Only 1 load. At Ashkelon, 1 discharge. Back to Corpus Christie, via Gibraltar for bunkering, 1 week swinging on the hook, another load and rinse and repeat. The terms’ over. Overseas Mykonos, practically the same, with a couple Med ports thrown in. SLNC Goodwill, now that Maersk Peary has the contract, half of the time, she is swinging on the hook. Besides, she’s a rust bucket. There are horror stories about that ship. No idea about SLNC Pax, other than that she’s small. Maersk Mississippi/Peary: Nobody is allowed to get off the Mississippi in the Mid-East, only to sign on and sign off the articles. Plenty time swinging at anchor. Peary is the only active tanker ship going everywhere (Guam, Philippines, Korea & Japan), with lots of sea time, but 15 loads/discharges in that one sea term? No. It’s on a MSC tanker that he’ll get the most experience, if he chooses to go tankers.

Experience says that it’s easy to remember what has been learnt on the 2nd voyage than in the 1st voyage. It’s not rocket science to see & remember which way is the needle is pointing to open or close.

So, let the cadet enjoy his 1st term. He’s just a cadet, for god’s sake. This is all assuming that he gets tankers. It’s not as if he has a choice or a say in the matter, if my info is correct.

BTW, off topic, half the cadets, especially the KPers that I came across, want to sail coastal, ending with becoming pilots. Some look at it as a short cut to join the Armed Forces and don’t even bother to learn, but can wake up early & go to the gym. On the MSC ship that I was on, they loved the life of going ashore everyday, making money and not sailing and wanted to stick to MSC. It’s an easy life on a MSC ship. Only few were ever interested in becoming proper sailors.

62

:joy::joy::joy:

It’s possible that they won’t, but 90 days is a long time and most US takers that I’m aware of do coastal runs. Honestly the hardest part is getting the 90 days onboard a tanker.

63

https://www.usmma.edu/academics/academic-calendar

June, Monday 19 2017 - Class of 2020(B) assigned to Shipboard Training for sea duty.

March, Saturday 03 2018 - Sea Duty begins for the Class of 2020(B).

I hope that you enjoyed your laugh, Capt. But, whatever.

The loads/discharges could be done even as a SIU AB and carry over after joining the academy. This, in the spirit of the thread.

64

That schedule shows a “sea duty” and a “training for sea duty”. Without more information that tells me that they only have one sea duty, but I’ll let a KP student chime in.

I asked you what school you were referring to and you just told me I was wrong, when in fact I’m not. Most of the academies have one cadet ship, if any.

By the way, you referenced KP not the school he was planning on trying to go to.

65

The topic of this thread has gone way off course but in light of the last few posts here are a few comments:

Do not know about the State schools but the KP cadets I have seen average 4 ships during their sea year. Some get more and some less. Throwing this out since the term “cadet” was used as a generality.

I don’t know where you are getting the numbers of 15 loads/discharges to get PIC. According the NMC check list it is 5 loads and 5 discharges or am I missing something here? https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/NMC/pdfs/checklists/mcp_fm_nmc5_57_web.pdf

If you are on a Product tanker it is easy to have multiple loads/discharges in one port shifting to one terminal to another.

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66

You’re correct.

I don’t know much about the KP system other than they call it “sea year”. The state schools aren’t all the same but usually either three trips on the training ship or two on the training ship and 90 days on a commercial ship.

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Well it simply used to be 1/2 your sophomore year and 1/2 your junior year. Of course the academic year there is longer than a normal college. Of a given class, half are out at sea the first two quarters and half the second two quarters. There used to be no problem getting all the sea time needed to sit over those two spans.

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68

The OP has moved on with the information he asked for. And yet one person continues to fight and provide information that will never come close to affirmation.

So I’m now sitting in MSC’s West Coast Pool…and I just happened to mention this post. Especially the pay part for an apprentice with “Former” SIU members. Yes, we have a few throughout MSC as well as other Mariners from all parts of the Maritime Spectrum. So when claims are made it is fairly easy to check.

I also went to AB and Survival Craft Training as the only MSC employee within a packed room full of SIU and SUP members. And we did discuss differences in Pay, Seatime, Benefits, Ships Assignments, Employee/Employer work relations and Job Satisfaction…and a few sea stories.

I mean no personal bearing towards you Smoker but your defensive attitude, lack of evidence and conflicting accounts fosters a lack a great deal of Credibility.

Edit: So here is my “Personal” lack of credibility. Just checked my tax statements as an OS. Yea…whiled deployed…it is possible to earn $6,000 - 9,000 a month. I hate when I prove myself wrong.

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69

So it is to separate sea terms, though possibly more than that number of ships. Thanks.

70

Gross? Definitely possible. I sailed 4 months in early 2017 with Patriot and then the tail end of the year did time with Maersk Line going into 2018.

I went well over the 100k mark as 3M for that year.

71

I’m starting the SIU Unlicensed Apprentice Program in August. They also have an AB to Mate program that requires an additional 6 months of classes after you get enough sea time.

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