I currently work in the offshore industry and frequently work off of boats and platforms. Whenever I am working on boats I observe that many of the crew particularly the deckhands only do actual work for about 50ish percent of the time, in other words they only work when there is something that needs to be done. The rest of the time they just kinda hang out. Is this normal? I like hardwork but I also like to take breaks in between so I have been thinking this may be a good potential career alternative to what I currently do.
First, before I get blasted; yes I can now be an OS on a cargo ship, I understand that's why most people get there MMC for. I got this MMC to be better qualified on a cruise ship as a zodiac guide in Antarctica. Now that the season is up in the air I'm trying to look at other options that I might not see or might not even be aware of.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Id like to know how much does it cost for the whole process to start to work on a ship, I don't mind being away from family for months or years, just want to know if it is super difficult to get a job as a merchant mariner, Just want an adventure and away from white colar jobs for awhile
Forgot to mention this question, do you need to have Good credit score to join
I have been looking into jobs on cargo ships for quite awhile, and I have a dream to by my own boat and sail and feel that a job on a ship would be best for me to save my money. I am looking for jobs that will have me working on ~6 month contracts. The internet doesn't seem to really give concrete answers on everything you need to attain a job like this. I am wondering what kind of certificates I will need, how hard it is to get and keep a job on a cargo ship, and what sort of future I'll be looking at in terms of advancement, pay, etc. I'm currently 21 years old and ideally I'd like to be sailing on my own boat by the time I am around 30 but I don't know how feasible that is. I'd appreciate any insights, thank you!
Assuming l would not want to go to Maritime Academy.
I'll be getting my Merchant Mariner's Document soon and am trying to figure out where to go to look for work. I've checked online, but there don't seem to be many jobs coming from that approach. I currently live in Ohio, so I'm assuming that I'll have to go somewhere to get started.
If you have any experience that you would like to share, or any advice, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
Hi folks! I was very lucky to be selected as the narrator for The Ordinary Seaman, a truly remarkable work by Francisco Goldman.
First published in 1997, The Ordinary Seaman tells the story of 19-year old Esteban, a veteran of the war in Nicaragua escaping to New York to start a new life as a crewman on the freighter Urus.
When Esteban and the other 14 members of the crew arrive, they find the Urus is actually a broken-down hulk on a practically-abandoned pier in Brooklyn. Without a means to return home or even escape, the men effectively become prisoners on the ship.
As Esteban builds his courage to try and escape the ship and his past, the story of him and his shipmates unfolds, dramatically and lyrically showing the nobility and fragility of the human spirit, and our capacity to love.
The Ordinary Seaman is a truly remarkable piece of literary fiction, beautifully and captivatingly written. I hope you will give it a listen. You can find it on Audible here:
As in carriers, tankers, container ships, etc.
I currently reside in Ontario, if that helps. University grad, nothing technical. Mostly done unskilled labour and retail work, though not a lot of it.
My great uncle Charles Peden (born in 1930 in Edinburgh Scotland) was An AB Seaman with the British Navy. He was murdered at the age of 19. All my Grandfather Has told me was that he thinks he was in the navy from about 1947 - 1949 and they were told he was murdered by unknown sources in the Portsmouth Barracks. I have a photo of him and his crew mates on the H.M.S Ben Lomond ship that I linked in the bottom of this. I know that ship was used for biological warfare testing in later years. And saw they said they were doing some preliminary testing. I also noticed in the article it said my Great Uncle was worried about his health and ordered blood testing so maybe that has something to do with the murder. My grandfather says he remembers when they brought his coffin to his home it was nailed shut and his parents were told they were not allowed to see his body. They had a military guard stay at their house over night to make sure no one opened his coffin and the guard stayed until he was buried. My grandfather has written the authorities and asked for the information on his death but they said they would not declassify it. My father found an article saying he may have passed away in 1949 from what looks like a fall or a forceful throw from a building. No one was ever caught. I'd really like to get my grandpa some closure but I'm hitting dead ends. Can anyone help me? Here is the website my father found. I find so much of this whole situation weird.
Update: I wrote to the Head Coroner's office for the Portsmouth area, and asked if they have any of the documents to release to me. The office wrote back that she will look into it and be In touch with me. If I haven't heard back within a week, I will email her and ask for a status update.
http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=6694&termRef=Charles%20Peden
Hi folks, 33 years old and going to be going the Ordinary Seaman/Deckhand route. What is the best place to find entry level OS jobs? I'm a NY native, but when I look for "Ordinary Seaman" jobs in the city of New York there seem to be very few, plenty of AB jobs so my plan would be to get my Sea Time and potentially consider moving back. What I want is a city that has massive access to OS jobs, and preferably one in need of entry level mariners .
Somewhat unrelated but should I join a union before even starting OS work?
Hello friends,
I'm an American, of Norwegian descent, looking for your thoughts about something I am writing about Norway in WW2.
I am writing a non-fiction book about U-boat attacks along the US East Coast in 1942 (I have 2 publishing offers so far.) Many of my real-life "characters" are Norwegian because of Norway's huge merchant fleet. I wanted to provide my [primarily American] readers some context about Norway's role in the war. This passage is from my chapter about the freighter Berganger. I enjoyed writing this chapter because there's a cool "twist," of sorts, about halfway through (as you'll see in the excerpt.)
Anyway, I'm interested in a Norwegian perspective here, both about the history and about the characters themselves. The first part is about the historical context, while the second part is more action. These are all real people & real events:
______________________________
The lookouts also changed over at noon. Able Seaman Hans Vingen ascended the forward mast to the crow’s nest. Meanwhile, Olaf Brevik relieved Johan Vidnes as the Berganger’s stern lookout. Vidnes was all too happy to conclude his silent and solitary vigil on the stern, his weary eyes having gazed for hours across the sea. Vidnes had determined that his duties left him too much time to think. To wonder about his parents, or the quality of last year’s harvest, or whether his family would even have enough eat this year. Although a seafarer by trade, and surrounded by fellow Norwegians aboard the Berganger, Johan Vidnes had never felt farther from home.[i]
Vidnes’ fedreland, or fatherland, did not even belong to Norwegians at the moment. On 9 April 1940, Germany had launched Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Denmark and Norway. Although the Danes capitulated quickly, Norwegian forces resisted doggedly for two months. Norway’s king, Haakon VII, refused German demands to appoint a new Nazi-aligned government under Vidkun Quisling (a collaborator so reviled that “Quisling” would eventually become an international byword for “traitor.”) Hitler himself ordered German forces to capture King Haakon at all costs, but Norway’s badly outmatched forces succeeded in delaying the invaders long enough for the royal family and the government to escape to Britain.
Norwegians have long been known for their dispassionate and agreeable nature, but the king’s defiance had electrified his pe
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi all, I'm fairly new in the maritime industry, I've worked on a few boats now (mostly tourism and 1 workboat), and now I'm wondering if working the sea time through the ranks is still a possibility these days. Im 30 and have done an apprenticeship as a toolmaker and have a Bsc in Marine science. I know now that what I want is to work at sea (Oceanographers hardly get to go who knew), but I dread of the thought of going yet again back to school for a third time (with the accompanying financial burden). Is it still possible for me to work my sea time from deckhand to captain through the job - and exams alone?
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
FOR SOME DAYS the Nautilus kept veering away from the American coast. It obviously didn’t want to frequent the waves of the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. Yet there was no shortage of water under its keel, since the average depth of these seas is 1,800 meters; but these waterways, strewn with islands and plowed by steamers, probably didn’t agree with Captain Nemo.
On April 16 we raised Martinique and Guadalupe from a distance of about thirty miles. For one instant I could see their lofty peaks.
The Canadian was quite disheartened, having counted on putting his plans into execution in the gulf, either by reaching shore or by pulling alongside one of the many boats plying a coastal trade from one island to another. An escape attempt would have been quite feasible, assuming Ned Land managed to seize the skiff without the captain’s knowledge. But in midocean it was unthinkable.
The Canadian, Conseil, and I had a pretty long conversation on this subject. For six months we had been prisoners aboard the Nautilus. We had fared 17,000 leagues, and as Ned Land put it, there was no end in sight. So he made me a proposition I hadn’t anticipated. We were to ask Captain Nemo this question straight out: did the captain mean to keep us on board his vessel permanently?
This measure was distasteful to me. To my mind it would lead nowhere. We could hope for nothing from the Nautilus’s commander but could depend only on ourselves. Besides, for some time now the man had been gloomier, more withdrawn, less sociable. He seemed to be avoiding me. I encountered him only at rare intervals. He used to take pleasure in explaining the underwater wonders to me; now he left me to my research and no longer entered the lounge.
What changes had come over him? From what cause? I had no reason to blame myself. Was our presence on board perhaps a burden to him? Even so, I cherished no hopes that the man would set us free.
So I begged Ned to let me think about it before taking action. If this measure proved fruitless, it could arouse the captain’s suspicions, make our circumstances even more arduous, and jeopardize the Canadian’s plans. I might add that I could hardly use our state of health as an argument. Except for that grueling ordeal under the Ice Bank at the South Pole, we had never felt better, neither Ned, Conseil, nor I. The nutritious food, life-giving air, regular routine, and uniform temperature kept illness at bay; and for a man who didn’t miss his past existence on la
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hello friends, American of Norwegian descent here looking for some translation assistance. (You may remember me from one of these recent posts.) I am writing a book about merchant ships that were sunk in World War II and Google Translate is struggling a bit with a Norwegian-language source, "Sjøforklaringer Fra Andre Verdenskrig Vol 2", p. 350-351. The ship in question is the Varanger, torpedoed off New Jersey, USA in January 1942.
I am specifically looking for help translating the bold parts of the below sentences. I suspect that some of these translation problems may be due to contextual or nautical things that Google Translate does not understand:
"Kapteinen henholdt seg ti I det i journalutdraget anforte..."
" Siktbarheten var ca. 1 mil." (1 mile? 1,000 meters?)
"...kapteinen i en fart noen klaer pa seg og gikk ut pa underdekket..." (which specific part of the ship is this referring to?)
"Undervandsbaten hadde krysset rundt livbiltene i ca. en halv time etter at de var satt pa van net; siden sa man intet mere til den ; man hadde ellers ingen kontakt med ubilten."
"Han henholdt seg til det deri anforte og forklarte at han hadde vakt pil broen da torpederingen fant sted."
"Posisjon 38o58' Ne.b. 74o V." (seems like the second pair of map coordinates? Anyone know what the digits are supposed to be? It's printed exactly like this in the book.")
"Det forste vidnet gjorde da eksplosjonen inntraff var a gi rormannen berskjed om a slil pil alannbryteren..." (I get the word "alarm" but what is the specific verb?)
"deretter gikk han inn i bestikken, slo av lanternene og tok posisjonen, gikk rett inn i radiorummet for a prove radioen..."
"...denne virket ikke og mil vrere blitt satt ut av funksjon ved eksplosjonen..."
"bestikken"
"...denne stod og talte til I. styrmannen og redningsarbeidet var da i full gang..."
"Da forste torpedo traffvar vidnet pil broen, babord brovinge, hvor han holdt utkik."
"lettmatros" (does anyone know what specific maritime rank this is? "Ordinary Seaman"?)
"Han forklarte at han stod tilrors da forste eksplosjon inntraff; han hadde statt tilrors i 50 minutter."
"Vidnet gikk deretter bort og hjalp matros Karlsen **pil b
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I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
Im looking to apply to the “ordinary seaman” position once my MMC goes through and I’m wondering what to expect.
Once I apply what is the process like? How long is wait period after applying? Once(if) I’m accepted do I just drive to the nearest dock and go aboard? It’s an entire level position but are there any tests I’ll be expected to take?
As far as I can tell from their website’s description of “ordinary seaman” it seems to be mostly busywork but what sorts of things will I be asked to do?
Also, on their website it says I’ll have 2 months off a year. Does that mean I’ll be at sea for 10 months at a time? How normal is that?
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
It really does, I swear!
PART TWO
Ernest and Winifred Bowlden unknowingly became major players in the claims of Mr Dorante-Day, while their stories do not involve the Royal Family it is one worth telling.
Ernest joined the Navy in 1925, starting his career at HMS Ganges, the training establishment that was used to “turn boys into men” (HMS Ganges Museum)
On 15th March 1926, the day he turned 18 the records show he is now classed as Ordinary Seaman.
In June 1927, the record shows that he was promoted to Able Seaman, specializing in ASIDC (Submarine Signals) His service records also show the ships he served on and not one of them matches the ships that Lord Louis Mountbatten also served on.
In 1938 he left the Navy and started work at HM Borstal Prison in Portland, he was an avid gardener, even one of his Yucca plants made it into the paper, standing an impressive 8ft and 6 inches! With luscious cream-coloured flowers (I am quite jealous, in 5 years my 4 ft yucca has never flowered) He never was though, a gardener for the queen or any other member of the Royal Family, as Simon has claimed numerous times.
Winnifred lived with her parents on Isle of wight, where she may have worked in the hotel industry, maybe as a cook or in housekeeping, her first husband worked as a hotel waiter at Freshwater Congregational, this may be where they met, sadly her husband passed away shortly after they married, and she moved back to her parent's home, who were now living in Portland. Later that year, in 1933 she met and was swept off her feet by young Able Seaman Bowlden, they married in 1934 and their first daughter was born in 1937.
In 1938, on the launch of his Prison Officer Career, they moved to the Prison Officer accommodation, records show that Ernest was a Prison officer and Winifred was in Unpaid Domestic duty AKA a Housewife. Ernest and Winifred’s second child was born in 1940.
In 1941, Ernest was awarded for his bravery with the search and rescue conducted after the prison he was working at was bombed.
In 1945 at the end of WW2, Ernest was transferred to HM Prison Kingston, relocating his family to Paulsgrove, Portsmouth. Once their children were of age, Winifred took up employment as a Home Help, assisting the elderly and disabled around Portsmouth with their day-to-day chores, sometimes meeting her grandchildren on their way home from school, they would argue abut who would get to sit on the saddle of her push bi
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