Zdrive/asd operator training help!

Maritime Employment
1

Hello all,

I’m new to this forum and this is my first post here and was hoping I could find some advice or guidance from people in the industry. I have worked on a harbor tug for the last four years as a deckhand and before that worked as a captain of marine construction vessels and work boats of many different types. I have a 500 ton master and master of tow. I came into the industry with the goal of one day becoming a operator. The captain I work with refuses to train me in anyway. I don’t know if it’s because he’s threatened in some way or what. I have always been respectful, bust my ass chipping and painting, and take lot of pride in keeping the tug absolutely spotless. I’m basically at an impass. On top of that all of my seatime for the last four years is useless as the cap refuses to list me as a mate on the official log. I’m not learning anything and not expanding my license in any way. Anyways, I guess my question to you all is are their any companies out there that are willing to train a licensed mariner as a mate/operator on an asd/zdrive? I’ll do whatever it takes and would just like to use the license I’ve worked so hard on. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

2

Yes, just about any of the harbor tug outfits will train a new Z-drive operator. You just have to be the right candidate for them, is all. Not a great time right now, for obvious reasons. Most companies have their boats/ships on lockdown with minimal or no crew changing.

3

Ya I hear you about the timing for sure. What do you mean by the right candidate? Could u name an outfit on the west coast that would be willing to train an operator that has never driven a z drive?

4

Bro, the world is in crisis. Be a good deckhand and stay employed. Search the many threads on here discussing your topic already.

1 Like
5

How do you have a towing endorsement if you aren’t / weren’t being trained? Anyway, you should be able to get a job. Just Google Master of Towing jobs Louisiana or some variation of it.

6

I was always told just to Google “tug jobs.”