Shore Leave

hey everyone first post. im trying to get my start in the marine industry and had a question. when you arrive at another port is there time to get off the ship? or is there no time because of the schedule the ship keeps.

Need more info.

What part of the industry are you asking about?

In the Coast Guard the rule of thumb for us is the larger the vessel the longer the port call just because your icebreakers deploy for six months compared to MEC & HEC’s who deploy for 2 and three months. You will also have a mid patrol break in the middle of the deployment and sometimes you’ll squeeze an extra day in Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, or God forbid Dutch Harbor…I can’t speak for CIVMAR’s but there are plenty of people on Gcaptain that can.

thanks for the replies. i was asking more about merchant mariners working aboard container ships

You MIGHT have enough time off to use the pay phone, (if it’s on the same pier)

It really all depends on your rating onboard, the length of time in port, the timing for arrival and departure, location of the port in relation to any populated area, attitude of the country that the vessel is in (such as many foreign seamen in the US), etc. In my experience, as long as you wouldn’t miss your watch and had a shore pass, you could go ashore.

Aboard a container ship? There isn’t much opportunity for shore leave at all. To be upfront, I never sailed aboard one, but in my present job I spend a lot of time aboard them and from what I have seen you would have enough time to go to Wal Mart, Best Buy, grab a burger at a fast food place and then get back to the ship. Shore leave is becoming more and more difficult in this industry the ships have quicker turn around times, smaller crews, and all the port security insanity has made getting ashore very difficult if not outright impossible at certain terminals.

There are ships that allow for more time ashore mostly bulkers and Government vessels. But, if you get on a tanker or a container ship you aren’t going to see much ashore. You may not realize this, but even though the ship is in port you will most likely still have to stand your watch. So, while you may be able to get ashore it could be at the expense of getting any sleep. I wouldn’t get involved in this industry just for the travel.

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There is always a chance to steal a moment ashore when in port, but its not like it was in the 'good old days’
Working in the offshore I comfort myself for this lack of shoreleave with the knowledge that I’ll only be working for 6 months of the year!
S.

Further to my post above, I have sailed on a variety of vessels, except for bulkers. On containerships, in a modern port, we would often get only 10 to 12 hours in port. Again, depending on your duty and working hours onboard, that can be long enough to go ashore, but certainly not like the three or four days that we would get on a break bulk ship. Remember, when the ship isn’t moving, it generally isn’t making money. I can tell you, though, there are some ports you may not even want to go ashore in, and others that you long for-for varying reasons. Generally, I found that I always had enough time available to me in port to get into just about any of the trouble I wanted to. But it HAS been a year or two (or should I say decades?) since I have made a foreign port of call by ship, anyway. Hell, I just got back from Mexico yesterday. Can’t beat air travel.

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Long enough to check the draft.

If you get on a deepwater drillship or semi, you can go years without ever seeing land. That being said, when I worked overseas I’d make sure to plan my flight home and postpone the connecting flight so I had a few days at the layover city.

thanks all for the info. im liking this site

[QUOTE=cmjeff;18940]If you get on a deepwater drillship or semi, you can go years without ever seeing land. That being said, when I worked overseas I’d make sure to plan my flight home and postpone the connecting flight so I had a few days at the layover city.[/QUOTE]

Thats the best way to do it.
S.