[QUOTE=tugsailor;78465]So the Gulf boat companies took all the sailor’s knives way too?
Don’t they know that “a sailor without a knife is like a whore without a ----”[/QUOTE]
a whore without a p,y means she can’t spread anything
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;78775]Where is it etched in stone you have to work 2 for 1. I work even time and there are plenty at my company that do as well. I have friends at several other company’s they work even time also. I haven’t heard of any company that won’t let you work out. I’m not saying they aren’t out there.[/QUOTE]
Been asking for 2 years now. Get laughed at every time and told by a few coordinators a version of, “ECO doesnt work equal time, so there is the gangway if you dont like it.” I then point out that people on my ship work equal time, people on other ships work equal time, and that some overseas boats work equal time. They still tell me no, your not going to work equal time at ECO. Alright maybe it’s time to move somewhere else that works equal time. Just thinking outloud.
The ships I work on are not bad. Have a good amount of comforts and good crews. No, they are not those posh Norwegian ships that have lounges on every deck, saunas and a couch with a flatscreen in the engine control room. The older ships I have been on are about as comfortable as a floating single wide trailer strait out of Galliano, while the newer ones are significantly better. My room on the anchor boat is nicer then most places I lived during and after college.
Cant fish? WTF cares. You make more money then most Doctors who actually went to school for 7+ years.
No knifes? Sucks, but see above.
Long sleeves in the summer? Hot and crappy, see above.
Food sucks? Sure does sometimes. Have you seen your paycheck?
Now with all this money, not having internet to talk to my family, or being able to go home and see them is where I draw the line. The entire younger generation of mariners generally doesnt want to work all year making an insane amount of money. It seems the older guys do though, and they make the rules.
[QUOTE=liftedlimo;78844]Been asking for 2 years now. Get laughed at every time and told by a few coordinators a version of, “ECO doesnt work equal time, so there is the gangway if you dont like it.” I then point out that people on my ship work equal time, people on other ships work equal time, and that some overseas boats work equal time. They still tell me no, your not going to work equal time at ECO. Alright maybe it’s time to move somewhere else that works equal time. Just thinking outloud…[/QUOTE]
REPLY Your post paints a very different image of working conditions and management attitudes at ECO compared to the “biggest and best” image that is usually put forth.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;78848]REPLY Your post paints a very different image of working conditions and management attitudes at ECO compared to the “biggest and best” image that is usually put forth.[/QUOTE]
Equal time in not the norm, but they will certainly allow it if there are others that want the same thing. You cannot force management to let you work equal time; if you have another guy wanting the same, then they will accommodate you more than likely.
I couldn’t fathom not wanting to work equal time at the level of the bigger boats. IMO.
My company doesn’t pay great but the comforts are nice. My boat has Internet and sat t.v. Our grocery orders don’t have a set limit. Certainly not as low as $400 a week. Our boat is maintained well. We get the supplies we ask for. This is a 100 ton mini-supply. Pretty good conditions. Definitely not complaining.
I agree. The guys who work 28-14 are always the ones with marital issues cause they aren’t home enough, but not to worry the wife drives an Escalade & they have the nicest trailer in BFE Mississippi.
As far as the fishing goes, I was given the reason for HOS won’t allow it. It seems logical though I don’t know if it’s true. I was told that in the past, other companies have been boarded by the dept of game and fisheries and got into some major trouble for having to many fish or undersized fish. I was told some companies were hit with major fines, the vessel lost a lot of money due to being tied up in legal battles and not working and in some cases the vessels were seized.
I like the company I work for. Pay’s low, boats are old, but they are very well maintained, work 14/14, support from the office is great, and very little BS in the way of paperwork and moronic policies. It’s a good place to be to gain the experience that the bigger companies want me to have. So it even’s out in the end. I hold the belief that the bullshit has got to be worth the pay, to a point.
I like to fish but really, that’s a major sticking point to some of y’all? Having just had game and wildlife come on board looking for something cooled my wanting to fish for a while. Wearing short’s? I refuse to wear shorts at work and see the practical need not to wear them. As bad as the work boats are I think we have a long way to go till we reach the level of utter ridiculousness that those on the rigs have to put up with.
I am with those of you questioning the banning of knives. I always have a pocket knife on me and use it many times every day it seems like. Curious to see what they say when I whip out the knife roll I carry for when I cook. One of the first things I tell a new hand is when they get home is get a pocket knife. To many times have I had to hold up offloading the boat while they go running to the galley to get something to cut a tag line with. Yea I’m sure that where they have banned knives and there is an approved cutting device in one of the deck lockers, I bet it will still take 5 minuets to find it and then hopefully they work since they don’t belong to anybody nobody takes care of them. Plus it’s kind of insulting to be treated like a kindergartener. I know not all of us on boats have graduated from High School, but dam if I’ve ever meet anybody who never made it out of elementary school. But I should be used to that by now as they all think we are just monkeys on a boat anyway.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;78848]REPLY Your post paints a very different image of working conditions and management attitudes at ECO compared to the “biggest and best” image that is usually put forth.[/QUOTE]
I was in a good mood this morning, so I went easy. Every company has its good points and bad points. It depends on who is above you and here is no different. In my very short tenure here I have worked under some extremely unprofessional captains that resemble a baby who gets candy stolen from them, and others are some of the most professional and down to earth people you have ever met.
Some vessel coordinators are very accommodating and call you for crew change. They greet you with a hand shake and smile. Others forget who you are and want nothing to do with you. I flew back one time and arrived at the prescribed 4am time for crew change, and turns out crew change was pushed back 36 hours and no one called me and told me. Other times I have not received phone calls and my name is not even on the crew change list.
Biggest? yes for sure. Best? Well I dont know exactly about that. Remember most people that are here on Gcaptain are seasoned company vets that know everyone at the office and command their own vessel. They look at it all from the top down. The rest of us piss-ants might not see it as rosey cheeked from the bottom up.
It is different for relatively new hires as compared to long term employees lets admit that. I’ve been with my company almost 10 years and I’ll admit I get better treatment or the company is more accommodating to my needs than say a guy who’s only been here a year and hasn’t really made a name for himself.
And with the fishing, we lost it here just as someone else said. WLF agents boarded a boat in one case and the other was a production crewboat was being called to the platform, and couldn’t be reached so the crane op. looks through his binoculars to see most of the crew yanking snapper. Long story short, company man calls office and asks if they can reach the boat to tell them after they’re done fishing they’d like to do some work.