Merchant Navy query

[Noodley]

Elder Noodlette is looking at career options and was looking at the merchant navy; she quite likes the look of becoming a deck officer, and has looked at Clyde Marine Training website. It looks quite a good option IMO.

Any Merchant Mariners able to provide some views on it as a career option?

 

[Piemaster]

I'm a Chief Engineer. Apart from a brief spell of a bit over a year in the Company office, I've only ever worked on ships, 25+ years now.
It can be a varied and rewarding career and there is a massive variety of vessels to work on. I work on North Sea supply boats - a floating version of CityLink. A guy I know left the company and has just flown out to a superyacht in Hawaii.
Well qualified and experienced people are in demand worldwide, there has been a deficit of recruiting / training over a number of years.
3 years(?) cadetship, a starting rate of £25k ish and left to drive £30 million worth of boat. Sounds better than an apprentice plumber to me. I work a 4 weeks on/ 4 off rota, so lots of time off too.

Downsides: Personal relationships can be tough. There is a fair divorce rate. She will miss significant anniversarys, birthdays, etc.
It's still a very male dominated industry, though that is changing slowly - I only know of 1 female engineer in 250 employees, though there are a good few more female deck officers.

I have a friend (Captain) who's son has just started a Cadetship. I think his largest problem was finding a sponsoring company to do the sea service time with - think this may be arranged via Clyde Marine but still down to individuals to satisfy the respective Company.

I've got no regrets over going to sea but it doesn't suit everyone. If she has any questions feel free to pm me.

 

[Headgardener]

There is also Warsash Marine College down here at Warsash were they teach officers to drive boats in a big lake Someone I know who is female went through there is and now a second officer on a crude tanker somewhere.

 

[Drago]

Sounds like fun to me. If I were 18 again I'd have a look at that.

 

[Globalti]

My cousin's hubby did this for years and when family requirements became too strong he retired and joined the harbour service at Scapa Flow, an interesting job in itself. Would that be Trinity House?

 

[asterix]

Am I right in thinking they use bicycles to get around the decks of the larger vessels? Obviously the ones to go for, if so.

 

[snorri]

Would that be Trinity House?

No, they don't operate north of the border, more likely to be Orkney Islands Council Marine Services.

 

[snorri]

The son of a friend underwent deck officer training but packed it in before completion. His sponsoring company were foreign and he was the only Brit on the ship trading in the Far East and he became the victim of racism. He seemed to get little support from anyone and the onboard training was poor. Perhaps with more inside information beforehand his situation could have been avoided, but that's what happened.

 

[Piemaster]

The son of a friend underwent deck officer training but packed it in before completion. His sponsoring company were foreign and he was the only Brit on the ship trading in the Far East and he became the victim of racism. He seemed to get little support from anyone and the onboard training was poor. Perhaps with more inside information beforehand his situation could have been avoided, but that's what happened.

Noodley, this can happen. The sponsoring company is all important. Mixed nationality crews are almost certain and not necessarily a problem in itself - I've been the only UK seafarer on a boat a couple of times. People are mostly just that, people, but not every race / culture around the world is as enlightened as the UK with regards to race and sex discrimination.

BTW we do have some older cadets (mid 20's) who have swapped career paths. One started off as a midwife. I've generally found them better students - more disciplined in studies and more questions.

Forgot a bit in my OP. Training. Where else can you come out after 3 years training with little or no debt?
The guy who is in Hawaii on the superyacht posted on his FB page last night that he has just had to go up in a helicopter and take photos of the mountains for his boss. I am really starting to dislike him.

 

[Noodley]

Thanks for the detailed replies piemaster, much appreciated. I was speaking to her this morning about it and she has done a fair bit of research and seems to know all the ins and outs of the application process and the importance of finding a good sponsoring company. She is still young (16) and is exploring a number of option, but the merchant navy sounds like a great option. I wish I was 25 years younger!

 

[Globalti]

I would guess that with the right experience and qualifications you could move into the yacht charter business; a former colleague had a brother who spent his life shuttling luxury yachts around the world for charter and when we had our holiday in Corsica this summer we were fascinated by the yachts in Calvi harbour, especially the massive four-master named Beluga, which anchored in the harbour and was under charter to a Russian oligarch. The crew were pretty smartly turned out; I imagine yacht charter work to be something like ski chalet work only warmer!

 

[Piemaster]

The crew were pretty smartly turned out; I imagine yacht charter work to be something like ski chalet work only warmer!

Pretty much, though as boats can move around the world they can be wherever the 'season' is. It will be somewhere nice though. Don't think basic pay is great but tips can be nice (I have heard of the 'tip' to one yacht crew being a BMW each). There is an issue of accruing seatime for further professional qualifications to move up the career ladder, but I'd be there too enjoying opportunities like that if I was younger, you can do the sensible stuff later in life.

 

[Globalti]

Now if you also happened to have a pilot's licence.....

 

[Fnaar]

Pardon my iggerance, but does "Merchant Navy" mean someone who works on a ship? Or is there abetter explanation. I read the wiki page, but didn't really get it.

 

[Piemaster]

'Merchant Navy' is an all encompassing term for non-armed forces ships, the commercial stuff that is owned by various different shipping companies and moves bulk commodities and goods around the world or provides offshore services (oil rig support, windfarms) for profit. A bunch of couriers really.
Everything from the largest oil tankers, a new containership (the biggest moving things on the planet) to at the other end small coastal vessels lugging aggregates or oil products around the coast and up and down our rivers.

It is not an armed service like the Royal Navy, however to muddy the waters, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is run by the government and are classed as merchant ships but only provide services to the Royal Navy.