Greetings. I am writing to gather some info on AMO. I just received my 3rd Mate license and am looking to sail. I have the generic qualifications along with the med PIC and ECDIS. How is shipping through AMO right now, especially for a 3rd Mate? Any ballpark averages of how long people have had to wait to get on a ship after joining? Would there be any helpful certs I should get to make it easier other than the Tankerman PIC? I’m not concerned with pay or type of vessel as long as it’s ocean going. Just looking to get out there. For the pointy sticks, I searched for AMO multiple times and didnt come up with anything recent.
Thanks!
Thanks for the heads up. Any idea which MMP halls might have more ships coming in?
And with a tankerman PIC in AMO you’ll be on tankers forever. Or at least that’s how it was when I was in and trying to get on anything else. Go MMP or MEBA if you’re going Union would be my advice.
[QUOTE=jbtam99;167046]And with a tankerman PIC in AMO you’ll be on tankers forever. Or at least that’s how it was when I was in and trying to get on anything else. Go MMP or MEBA if you’re going Union would be my advice.[/QUOTE]
I have a tankerman PIC and I am in AMO. I haven’t been on a tanker since 1994.
[QUOTE=lm1883;167086]Then you are an exception to the rule. Gremelsbacher told me himself that they liked pigeon hole PIC guys on tankers,especially the mates. The theory was that once they had a permanent job and rotation they would less likely leave to leave for AMSEA or Maersk or something like that.[/QUOTE]
On the last tanker I worked on, the company tried to get me to come back and take a permanent job. I registered and took another job before the other job was available. I guess I could have been pigeon holed if I sat back and let it happen.
I’ll say this about AMO. Right now, on the shipping board, on the deck side, there is one C/M job. That’s it. Now, most AMO jobs never do make it up on the board. Right now, as an applicant, you will probably end up waiting six months or more for a job, unless you just happen to be in the right place at the right time.
As far as MM&P goes, one thing they offer that AMO typically doesn’t is port relief work. So that might be an option for you. Also, don’t forget about the non-union tanker companies like OSG, Polar, and ATC. I have no idea how long it would take to get a job with any of them but it’s another avenue worth exploring if you get hungry enough.