Hey all,
Just trying to get a little info on NOAA as far as rotations and pay is concerned. I know that the salaries are below industry average, but I’ve heard that the overtime makes up for it-is this true? Also, does anyone know what type of schedule they work. Apparently they are going to either a 30/30 or 90/90 rotation, any idea? I have heard in the past that they work a [U]LOT[/U]! Something to the extent of 270 days straight-out of the year. Thanks for any replies in advance.
Sea-K, worked back in '85 on the Miller Freeman, West Coast and Alaska, 6 month deployment, then a few weeks back in Seattle, then another 6 month. Overtime was the way to make money and that depends on the ship.
I worked for NOAA back in the early 80’s, so my info is dated. However, the 270 days per year was rarely more than two weeks away, followed by four or five days in port. Almost always in port over the holidays. Interesting work, lots of boat operations, relaxed atmosphere. Still the most fun job I ever had, just didn’t pay as much as others. Excellent benefits.
with NOAA you don’t sail on a rotation like in the merchant side. You are paid to work monday through friday, while at sea you earn overtime easy because you work saturday and Sunday. While on shore generally speaking your weekends are your time, thus no pay.
You earn 4 hours annual leave per pay period (pay is biweekly) 6 hours if you have 3 or more years military or federal service and 8 if over 10 years (i believe)
Many NOAA ships only go out for short hops. There are a few that are at sea 240-270 days per year. Most ships are in port from November thru January / Feb. If hired in you will automatically be assigned to the augmentation pool and bounce from ship to ship until your offered (and accept) a permanent position aboard a particular ship.
Working for NOAA you do qualify for a great medical program (insurance) and a Federal Pension.
[QUOTE=Sea-K.;30584]Hey all,
Just trying to get a little info on NOAA as far as rotations and pay is concerned. I know that the salaries are below industry average, but I’ve heard that the overtime makes up for it-is this true? Also, does anyone know what type of schedule they work. Apparently they are going to either a 30/30 or 90/90 rotation, any idea? I have heard in the past that they work a [U]LOT[/U]! Something to the extent of 270 days straight-out of the year. Thanks for any replies in advance.[/QUOTE]
Thanks all for the replies,
I recently spoke to someone that told me they are going to a rotational schedule in the very near future, 90/90 I believe. Anyone have info on this?
-Sea-K.
See the thread I posted on this topic in the professional Mariner section titled “NOAA pay and rotation” or something like that. I posted links to the pay and something describing how often they are at sea. The pay seems good to me for government work
Here you go…
Pay as of 2009 — http://www.wfm.noaa.gov/policies/Pay-WageMarine.html
link to something put out by NOAA, for recruiting I assume, that claims average cruises are 1-5 weeks and an average of 215 days at sea per year
http://www.moc.noaa.gov/shipjobs/Mar…esentation.ppt
Today I spoke with a young fellow who worked with NOAA for a few years recently and asked him about some of the questions I’ve seen on this forum. I even wrote down some of his answers. Here goes:
NOAA and MSC are paid exactly alike. All civilian mariners are represented by SIU or MEBA though you don’t have to pay union dues unless you want to [I would]. The bigger the vessel the larger the pay. Most of NOAA’s vessels are small except for the Ron Brown so figure on wage marine pay for a class II or III vessel. The wage marine pay scale has already been mentioned earlier.
The vessels do stay at sea a lot compared to Gulf of Mexico supply boats but most are in port at least every two weeks for the weekend. You can go to town and things are pretty relaxed work wise when in port. They also on occasion let the cooks off when in port and contract for the crew to eat at restaurants in town whenever they want three times a day. He said they usually choose good places to eat and if they don’t contract they give you cash for grub which you can use however you wish.
The ports you pull into are usually pretty decent and they dock at USCG or Navy facilities or decent places close to town…
The work is about what you would expect as any mariner and the scientists on board change from voyage to voyage. NOAA basically charters the vessels to different groups of scientists or they do survey work for charting.
The bridge crew and administration is usually NOAA Corps which is a uniformed branch of the government. He said they aren’t what he considers professional mariners as they only go to sea a couple of years and sit in the office for 3 years, few if any hold a USCG license. They repeat the process and then retire after twenty years. He said most of the NOAA officers hate being at sea but some are OK. There are a few NOAA vessels with USCG civilian captains and he said they are great.
The engineers are all civilian as are the ABs, deckhands etc.
Also, the pay is more than published because you get overtime over 40 hours and you can take compensatory time off in lieu of over time. Example:work 80 hours, you can choose to accept 20 hours of overtime pay and opt for 20 hours of paid time off. He said that makes the lack of time off a little more bearable. You tack on your comp time to your 1 day off for every 10 days at sea which is what the government allows. All time off is paid for along with a meal and incidental expense amount.
To me it seems like a pretty good thing but he said to be very careful when they assign you an employment classification if you want to make a career of it. There’s conditional employment and permanant and one other I didn’t write down. He said make sure you aren’t classed as anything that can get you laid off or released without cause.
Hope this gives a little more light on NOAA for you folks.
This makes no sense. Please help me understand because I am confused… Maybe since Captarpon727 works for noaa(or at least did until recently, or just started recently, I cant remember) he could pipe in on this?
The pay is NOT the same as MSC according to the pay charts. And I still dont understand this whole thing about them being allowed to sail without a license?? How is this possible? Can the wage mariners do the same?
And if all the officers are NOAA corps does that mean if I get hired on as a QMED I have no chance of moving up to licensed officer and possibly even skipper one day?
Or would they offer me some kind of opportunity to “enlist” in thier corp? And if so does that mean I would be eligible for those “shore duty” rotations mentioned above?
Is this the difference between the wage mariner and and noaa corp?
Are both the Wage mariners and the noaa corps officers under the same federal retirement(FERS) and benefits system? Or is the noaa corp under the same system as the military since its a “uniformed service”.
I was sure this was where I wanted to be one day but now I’m so lost I dont really know if I even know what the job is at this point. I wouldnt mind bouncing around for a while until offered a perm position but if I cant move up or become part of the corp I’m not so sure?
Thanks TEngineer, that’s good info man… as for SailorDaniel, I think I can chime in on this one a bit. I can’t help you with the wage-mariner question-I just thought it was a fancy name for a mariner that works for the government and earns a specific wage regardless of whether he’s on the boat, on leave, or etc.
As for the Corp. unlicensed question… all government-maritime agencies that have an Academy like NOAA, USCG, and the Navy don’t issue their officers licenses because they’re governed by different laws and they don’t want their members separating after fulfilling their commitment and working as a Merchant Mariner earning double the wage. As for agencies like the Army Corp. or local state agencies, they require you to be licensed because they don’t have any formal training like the Academies-and have no way of gauging whether you’re qualified for the job or not without being licensed.
2nd, not all of NOAA’s officers are commissioned. I don’t know the ratio-how many are and how many aren’t, but I do know that there are advancement opportunities. According to HR, if a Mate position becomes available-for example, they post it in-house first, you then have ten days to apply for the job-if no one is qualified they open to the public. So there are promotional opportunities for us licensed AB’s or QMED’s.
As for becoming a commissioned officer and being able to compete for the shoreside jobs, I’m pretty sure you would have to go to their academy. I believe they have an age cut-off, and you have to have a degree of some sort-don’t quote me on that one. If you call the Commissioned Personnel Center, they could give you all the info. Here is a number I found, 800-224-NOAA (6622). Good luck, -Andy
NOAA has a rumor flying around about a rotational schedule, but from what I here it is far off in the future. I wouldn’t use that as a basis to choose to work with NOAA because if that ever happens, I am sure it will be a slow and tedious process. Also, because of the diversity of missions from ship to ship it could very well create a mission nightmare.
[QUOTE=Sea-K.;30615]Thanks all for the replies,
I recently spoke to someone that told me they are going to a rotational schedule in the very near future, 90/90 I believe. Anyone have info on this?
-Sea-K.[/QUOTE]
NOAA wage mariners are paid similar but not exactly like MSC. MSC generally negotiates the union contract and then NOAA pipes in for what specifically applies to us.
As far as sailing with out a license, NOAA Corps officers are granted the same exemptions as Naval officers from Coast Guard License. Some have them anyway, but the majority do not. USCG does not require officers of a public ship (government ship) to be licensed. I am not a fan of this policy, but who am I to do anything about it.
Not all of the “officer” positions are held by NOAA corps, we have a civilian 3rd mate on our ship and most ships have at least one civilian licensed person on the bridge from mate to master.
Google NOAA Corps for the website pertaining to how to become a NOAA corps officer. Remember if your a NOAA Corps officer, they own you just like in the military. This is the difference between NOAA Corps and wage mariners.
All NOAA employers fall under the Federal retirement system.
Minimum requirement for NOAA Corps is to have a 4 year degree.
If they are both under FERS then I dont understand how the corps guy get to retire after only 20 years as tengineer mentioned? If I were to retire under FERS I would have to work another 27 yrs. And if I have a bachelors can I just join the corps or do you have to go through thier academy? I keep hearing examples of a guy working here or there on deck licensed without being noaa corps but are there any 2nd, 1st a/e, CE’s who are civilians?
Daniel, The Commissioned Corps is considered a Uniformed Service, like the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard… http://www.corpscpc.noaa.gov/benefits/retiredpay.html This link explains the NOAA Commissioned Corps retirement options.
Ok well that makes a lot more sense, I knew they couldnt have been under FERS
[QUOTE=SailorDaniel;30661]If they are both under FERS then I dont understand how the corps guy get to retire after only 20 years as tengineer mentioned? If I were to retire under FERS I would have to work another 27 yrs. And if I have a bachelors can I just join the corps or do you have to go through thier academy? I keep hearing examples of a guy working here or there on deck licensed without being noaa corps but are there any 2nd, 1st a/e, CE’s who are civilians?[/QUOTE]
I believe ALL of the engine room are civilian licensed/MMC holders, no NOAA Corps in the ER at all…On the bridge there is sometimes a mix of licensed deck officers and NOAA Corp Officers, the deck apes are civilians MMC holders.
[QUOTE=Jeffrox;30840]I believe ALL of the engine room are civilian licensed/MMC holders, no NOAA Corps in the ER at all…On the bridge there is sometimes a mix of licensed deck officers and NOAA Corp Officers, the deck apes are civilians MMC holders.[/QUOTE]
Even the CHENG?
[QUOTE=roversea;30587]Sea-K, worked back in '85 on the Miller Freeman, West Coast and Alaska, 6 month deployment, then a few weeks back in Seattle, then another 6 month. Overtime was the way to make money and that depends on the ship.[/QUOTE,]
Funny, I’m inport Dutch Harbor, Alaska now and I was noticing MILLER FREEMAN wriiten high up on the rocks. Now I know it is a NOAA vessel…
Hey everyone,
I goto Mass. Maritime Academy and currently in my junior year studying Marine Transportation for my 3rd’s Unlimited. I want to join the NOAA Corps because I want to serve and I feel like I would get alot ship handling time while serving. Does anybody have any thoughts about a career in the NOAA Corps as a 3rd unlimited from MMA? Do you think this is a good path togo? I looked at Navy and though I love the service it takes a long time to climb the ladder it seems… I am also applying for MAGRAD for a Coast Guard Commission.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
Have you driven down to WH and asked anyone there? I have heard some people love it there. But then again, how many ships do they have? And how many billets open up to even get your foot in the door? IIRC they only have 8 or so vessels. Sounds like a tough nut to crack to me.