DeckApe, there is a serious dislike for MSC. Do you still work for them and in what capacity?
‘Hitch”. The mindset of a mariner that works 14/14 locally.
Completely different scenario for a mariner that goes to sea for 90, 120 or more on.
Not to mention champagne (they invented it), and a host (no pun intended) of other now famous cognacs , brandies, and fortified wines. That was the good old days before Christians were fundamentalist whackjobs … see what teetotaling does to you?
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It has also been pointed out, hat Winston Churchill and FDR were both heavy drinkers, Hitler was a teetotaler.
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One thing to remember about taking chances with these policies is outside the major cities even the unlimited senior officer skillsets are worth like $40k a year. We’re paid for the license and the time away from home but in reality even an experienced 1AE is pretty much just a handyman at most.
A handy man with an engineering degree. A 1AE can easily get a shoreside job in a variety of fields, but I’ll example NY Metro area facilities management, since I’m more familiar with it. Straight off the boat, they will still take a hit compared to sailing, but certainly at least double, what you’re suggesting. Also the labor market for that, and a lot of other engineering management professions is hot right now.
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Plenty of hawsepipers and people without the ABET-track degrees out there.
And honestly I’m not too sure how much of that big brain stuff the average guy who’s been sailing 10 years even remembers.
Without a college degree of some sort, you’re right it’s a bit harder. But you don’t necessarily need an ABET engineering degree or PE license to get a job in facilities management.
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I once made the return crossing to Norfolk from a Med/Gulf deployment on a T-AO. Cargo and Beer-on-pier beer was locked in one of the deck refer conexes. Upon arrival in NOB the only thing left of the pallet of beer was the pallet. No one was particularly surprised or held accountable.
That same ship I ran the incinerator. Always found empty liquor/wine bottles in the burn barrel. Never understood why guys didn’t just pitch them overboard.
As for me I’ve always kept my drinking to in port, if not always in moderation…
Kennebec , once again you are perfectly right.I was Captain on a VLCC usually trading from from Persian gulf to LOOP. We had a very strict alcohol policy, dry ship and random alcohol tests on board. I was very strict on that and I had never crew drinking problems on board. During my shore leave I was relieved by a relieve Captain ex BP. One night I was called at home because my relieve Captain died on board and I had to rush on board by helicopter during Canary island vessel’s passage ( for once the vessel was deviated to Rotterdam Eurosport to discharge her cargo).I took over the ship and at same time disembarked the captains body which was kept in the meat freezers . I made an enquiry on board. It resulted that the Chief Engineer( also ex BP) phoned the company many times during passage to inform that Captain and some crew members were drunk. During my enquiry I found that Captain and crew paid cash money to chandler for alcohol supply during bunkering off Fujairah in total disregard of Company’s alcohol policy.
That’s why I say you are perfectly right, as always.
When I left tankers I sailed with MSC (from heaven to hell from safety point of view!) and then I was placed ashore to do vessels and tankers vetting where I observed the worst of alcohol policy.
If company policy is no alcohol it’s far better for the captain to follow policy. A ship-wide, blatant disregard for policy is the worse possible scenario.
If company policy is to allow alcohol that’s another matter. The captain’s personal preferences wrt alcohol should have nothing to do with it.
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Fully agreed
If you’re a teetotaler, when you wake up in the morning that’s the best you’re going to feel all day.
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But Hitler was a heavy user of cocaine and opiates.
Alcohol onboard almost always ends in trouble, drunk people will trip or slip and injure themselves, people will lose their inhibitions and go nuts and start fighting.
Watch keepers don’t really have enough time to get drunk and sober up for their next watch, if someone has 8 hours off and they go on a drinking session they will still be drunk when they start their next watch, even 12 hours off probably isn’t enough time.
People who do day work probably do have enough time, if they drink from 5pm to 10pm they might be sober if they are working at 8am the next day.
That’s awful. Didn’t anyone teach the youngsters to toss the bottles off the side of the ship? I mean from the actual bulwarks, not just the external ladders? There’s nothing more annoying then when the boatswain has some guys clean glass off the flight deck because the bottles got caught in the wind and smashed into the non-skid.
Also, very dumb to put the empties into the trash. Sometimes the idiots put them in their personal trash (which includes identifying information like Amazon boxes or pay stubs). That’s always fun to find. Great for hazing.
Your ship needed better leadership. Those kids were ill-prepared. 
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Best policy is NO Alcohol on board, Been on both sides. It won’t work being lenient. Too many assholes. I stayed on the boat for self preserevation while in port in my later years. Many more did the same after OPA 90. Good for them. I still talk to a few of my retired friends that fook that path and could share a beer and tee time afterwards. I am blessed.
When you make exceptions ( or turn a blind eye) to the rules then there are no rules.
My collorary thought is there are no consequences for doing the right thing.
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When I was sailing deep sea, we would drink onboard. Worked out for us when we weren’t watch standers. When I moved to tugs and ATBs, the smaller size of the crew really didn’t allow drinking. I know that there were some that were drinking, although it was against policy. Me? Well, if I had time in port, or a certain place or person to visit, I would go ashore and drink. Much of the time I would wait until I was headed to the airport to go home. . .I did have a couple of reliefs that couldn’t control their drinking, and that always ended up with me having to come back to work early. In one case, my newly hired relief showed up drunk. I sent him home and stayed on. . . .