The last time I posted about tugboat wages it resulted in surprisingly little discussion. I did get a couple of interesting PMs.
Come on guys, let’s hear it. What are the union and non-union tugboat wages and benefits around the US coasts this year?
Where is there still a shortage of tugboat guys?
ABs on the east coast are in the 3-400 range, non Union. Mates 4-500 and up from there. Couple data points but they all seem to be in that range. We seem to be staffed up at the moment but I’m seeing plenty of ads for companies on the east coast…
AB around 400, AB TNKM around 520, 3M 550. All ATB wages union.
West coast harbor union ABs…low 400s to low 500s a day. Engineers licensed or not about the same. Tankermen about the same too. Varies on union and contract. Captains anywhere from high 500s to high 600s depending on union or non and skillset (tractor tug, barges, etc…)
Offshore ABs union or not…mid 300s to low 400s a day. AB/tankermen low 400s to mid 500s depending on union/non and company. Licensed assistant engineers low to high 500s. Licensed chiefs mid 500s to high 600s. Capts high 600s to low 800s depending on license and skillset and of course union/non. Mates wages would be in line thereabouts with the assistant and chief depending.
Certainly in the ballpark Ctony… Throw some pilotage in there (On top of regular rate)with the WH guys that are employed by the companies that do reward them for the trips they use it can be well worth the time sitting for it.
NY Harbor, mom and pop, non union companies:
Masters $700 - $800
Mates very few of them $500-$600
Tankerman $400-$500
Deckhands around $375
Engineers $450-$550
Vitus Marine in Anchorage, Alaska is hiring for the upcoming 2022 season.
Captain up to $800 a day
Mate up to $700 a day
Engineer up to $700 a day
Tankerman up to $550 a day
Deckineer (deckhand/engineer) up to $599 a day
Deckhand up to $349 a day.
Plus full benefits.
I think these wages are about 10-15% higher than last year.
There is a Pacific Northwest company that is paying this:
Captains: $800 - $1100
Chief Engineers: $600 - $800
Mates $600 - $800
AB $$400 - $500
OS: $200 - $350.
An AB working out of NY recently told me:
ABs $300 to $400.
Sounds like they definately bumped their wages up. I wanna say in their ad they also said they are offering schedules.
Every year various companies spout the big lie that we are going to have reasonable schedules. It seldom happens. The only way to get off is to quit, and some people do.
Last year licensed guys were in such short supply that a lot of office staff with a license suddenly found themselves back out on a boat.
What about Ship assist?
The rates i put up covered ship assist boats west coast.
Wonder if the East coast and Gulf coast guys are comparable to these rates.
There is a Pacific Northwest company that is paying this:
Captains: $800 - $1100
Chief Engineers: $600 - $800
Mates $600 - $800
AB $$400 - $500
OS: $200 - $350.
It seems to me that PNW, SF Bay, LA/LB and NY wages are usually fairly similar, with some exceptions. Sometimes one is 10-20% higher or lower than the other.
Alaska should pay quite a bit more due to the very long hitches and weather, but it’s usually the same as PNW.
Wages most other places are less, sometimes a lot less.
For a long time there have simply been too many hungry mariners. At the moment that has changed.
I’m an east coast non-union mate making 500/day. I left another non union company where I was at 432/day before I really realized how badly I was getting hosed on money. Equal time schedule and actually the work is quite fun.
Texas Harbor Tug Company- SIU both the unlicensed guys and officers.
I think when I left
OS/Wiper- $137
AB’s/Oilers were making $260
Engineers/Mates-$440
Chief’s were a little more but not by much
and Captain’s were a little more than Chiefs
Keep in mind their pay rate was paid on a 12 hour noon to midnight-midnight to noon basis so crew change days you only make half your day rate.
They also just got a new contract, so it’s probably more now- I was on my way out so really didn’t pay much mind to the raise, I wanna say it was something like 2/2/3? raise wise.
Did that boss in Texas wear a mask while he handed out the paychecks?
That’s somewhat like our pay rate at Coastal Transportation Inc. Not a towing company, but in some ways work is comparable. We work on a schedule. You can see it here, planned out for the year.
https://www.cticrew.com/crew-schedule/
Knowing you’ll be gone for about 25 days then be back again in Seattle is a big selling point. Some people work 25 days on/28 days off. Some work two voyages with 4 or 5 days off in Seattle in-between, before taking a whole voyage off. Some of our people commercial fish, too, so we try to work with our people with their schedules.
Captains and chiefs are worth every dime.
Western Towboat
Captain: $700 something and up, plus 10% west of Cape Spencer in the Gulf of Alaska.
Good health insurance (some employee contribution for family) and 401k with a 4% match.
Come on guys. Keep the information coming. PM me if you prefer. Tell me whether I can post it with the name of the company, or not.