Can’t blame him a bit, 20 - 25 years ago all things being equal I’d have done the same thing, More time off, better pay, sure, why not. I bet you’re right, indeed not one person in the office had to forethought to ask why he left. ( when you leave or retire the send this little questionnaire - most never fill it out… Basically, if they have to ask they’ll never get it alway so what’s the use). Glad to see msc officers have options these days.
[QUOTE=seacap@large;100610]I can’t understand why “not so many” ex-MSC employees try to down the company, I worked there for many years (20+) and there were good days and there were not so good days, but not to the point where I hated it, just the opposit and I would suggest that the complainers refused to follow the policies of the CMPI or either life long whinners. More likely was tossed.[/QUOTE]
MSC deserves to be hated on all day!
I only did three hitches, but even that was two too many! Most of the people there are scumbags and sorry-ass workers who float by on the fact that they have a permanent job for life. That being said, I also met some really exceptional and cool people, fine workers and good seamen, but these were far fewer. So I hope those people are doing well out there and I respect but don’t quite understand their decision.
Maybe I had such a bad experience because I refused to follow the policies of the CMPI. Yeah, that must have been it. I need a rule book to instruct me in the ways of seamanship and how to be a decent human being.
Of course its an allright job if you don’t mind being treated like property of the Dept of Defense. If you don’t mind being told how much time off you can take, how to spend your money, where you are allowed to go in port when you’re off duty, being treated like a goddamn child. But for people who were never in the Navy, it can be a bit hard to get used to.
On a side note, when I was on a certain East Coast ship there was an old chief steward who dressed like a pimp, pretty cool guy.
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[QUOTE=Slacker;108550]Another Atlantic Chief Mate quit today. A ten year plus veteran. He’s off to join some drill ship. I’ll bet a dollar not one person in the office offered to sit down with him to discuss the situation and explore some way to at least try and get him to stay. But the good news is we still have plenty of pimps who know a good thing when they see it.[/QUOTE]
How do you sell MSC and who’s buying? If they even have a retention strategy, it’s certainly not a rational one. The kind of people that MSC attracts now are sociopaths and those looking to run away and join the circus. I don’t want to work with either.
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They offered me a civmar position, but I am going with the “Fish People” (as the weather guys refer to them).
I know lots of MSC engineers because of my job, and one C/E in particular said something really enlightening. He advised me, that if I was hired, to stay long enough to get my license (in my case we are talking months) and leave.
That’s telling. Now, he likes his job but he’s been there 30 years and he’s getting ready to retire, so he’s seen that pendulum swing a few times between the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I remember some of my ship mates on the Kawishawi (1982). One guy from Alabama had been abducted and probed by aliens from his trailer park in Alabama. Another 46 year old man still lived with his mother. One smelly pervert liked under age girls and bragged about it. The reefer engineer wore the same set of clothes for days and wore them to “Bernies”, a bar across from the ship. You didn’t want to sit near him. One of the six wipers was the nephew of Hughie Newton (Black Panther leader) and had a chip on his shoulder the size of Montana. A qmed had one leg shorter than the other but didnt have a special shoe to compensate for the “port list”. The guy who ran the paint locker was brain dead from the fumes. The chief mate was the captains “Ed McMahon”. He always laughed at marginal jokes told by the captain. Otherwise a normal bunch of wackos.
Ha! I have some of the same memories. That’s was back when Msc was fun. Bernie’s was a great bar ( now a parking lot). Yea, I had great times back then. Oddly, back then while the mariners were a group of nut cases, at the same time they were generally very good mariners. I missed the old guard as Msc got bigger and less productive.
So what happened on the Arctic? Anyone?
I guess the Purser was stealing all the money. Good for him!!! Fill in the stack of $100 bills with $1 bills. I bet he was the not the first person to think of that. Maybe he went on a 4th fleet trip and got caught up in the Panama City gambling scene. F%$k Vegas.
MSC has lost so many C/M’s, there are several 2/O’s sailing in that position now. Just heard this today from a 2/0 who would know. Come to MSC, get promoted quickly by default.
[QUOTE=seacomber;109800]MSC has lost so many C/M’s, there are several 2/O’s sailing in that position now. Just heard this today from a 2/0 who would know. Come to MSC, get promoted quickly by default.[/QUOTE]
I’m waiting for them to make a Suppo Captain.
[QUOTE=UnRepKing;109253]I guess the Purser was stealing all the money. Good for him!!! Fill in the stack of $100 bills with $1 bills. I bet he was the not the first person to think of that. Maybe he went on a 4th fleet trip and got caught up in the Panama City gambling scene. F%$k Vegas.[/QUOTE]
There ain’t nuttin’ new about stealing money off a ship. I can attest to that. When I was on my first deployment I did a stint as a shipboard Master At Arms (that was a temporary billet in those days), and I had to stand guard at the pay table with a sidearm on my hip. At sea, no less.
There we were, sailing through the Tyrrhennian Sea between Italy and Sicily, the sally port is open and you can see the water rushing by, and I’m standing there with a firearm next to the DKs to make sure some chowder-head didn’t grab the moola. And run WHERE? But you’d be surprised.
I think Dateline or Nightline did a segment some years ago about strong-arm robberies at the ATMs (these were designed to disperse your paycheck in cash) aboard aircraft carriers. About 15-20 years ago the Navy got into the bad habit of enlisting gang bangers, and they did their gang bang business aboard ship without missing a beat. Those fuckers would jack you at the ATM and take your cash and disappear into the 5,000 strong throng and the poor fool whose only mistake was to try and withdraw his money after he got off watch was too scared to recall what his robber looked like.
Navy got a little smarter and put cameras on the damn things but still, sweet mother Mary!
There was a few well-publicized payroll robberies as well and one I recall left the Disbursing Officer (equivalent to Purser) hog-tied and stuffed in a locker!
Think about the size of one payday on a bird farm. Over 5,000 people, many are pilots and other officers. You are talking a couple million, actually around six million, with all the salaries and special pays. That’s why they are so big on direct deposit.
[QUOTE=seacomber;109800]MSC has lost so many C/M’s, there are several 2/O’s sailing in that position now.[/QUOTE]
True that.
A post was split to a new topic: Chief Mates still quitting MSC 10 years later