Cargo Ships, What Do You Do On Them?
Discussion
I quite like the idea of working on a cargo ship, big stuff is always cool. But what you you actually do on them? At loading and unloading time I guess, depending on the ship and cargo you'd be quite busy. Then what happens when the vessel is out in the middle of the ocean? Surely there is only so much maintenance it needs and if it is new or just come out of dry dock it would need hardly any at all.
Just wondering is all.
Just wondering is all.
Deck officers "drive" a ship at sea; 4 hours on, 8 hours off generally and also look after communications, the cargo, deck maintenance, safety gear, mooring operations, etc. The engineers maintain the main engine, 3 x generators, boiler, pumps, purifiers, thrusters, cranes etc. maintenance is never ending. There is also an ever increasing amount of legislation to comply with.
Crew numbers are the minimum that a vessel can be operated with, whilst complying with flag state safe manning requirements, so you are always busy. As Captain 12 hour days or more were the norm, although that was working on anchor handlers rather than cargo ships, although as Chief Officer on feeder container ships the hours were even worse.
Crew numbers are the minimum that a vessel can be operated with, whilst complying with flag state safe manning requirements, so you are always busy. As Captain 12 hour days or more were the norm, although that was working on anchor handlers rather than cargo ships, although as Chief Officer on feeder container ships the hours were even worse.
I used to work on this and similar as an engineer:
As soon as you came into port the maintenance on the main engine started which meant no shore leave. My last two 3 month trips resulted in me going ashore no further than to get some documents signed for fuel transfers.
The ships were also 'dry' at this point, so a 3 week crossing of the pacific with grown men playing Risk or Trivial Pursuit every night over bottles of water every evening were very grim. It's no longer a good job in my opinion and if you were fancying something similar, you should look towards DP ships involved in support and supply roles instead. Much better money, conditions and career prospects. That's what I did!
As soon as you came into port the maintenance on the main engine started which meant no shore leave. My last two 3 month trips resulted in me going ashore no further than to get some documents signed for fuel transfers.
The ships were also 'dry' at this point, so a 3 week crossing of the pacific with grown men playing Risk or Trivial Pursuit every night over bottles of water every evening were very grim. It's no longer a good job in my opinion and if you were fancying something similar, you should look towards DP ships involved in support and supply roles instead. Much better money, conditions and career prospects. That's what I did!
northwest monkey said:
What sort of money would you get for working on something like this?
When I was 4th engineer it was approx £18k p/a, tax free. If I remember correctly from the Maersk pay scales, a Chief Engineer would start about £44k. This was 7 years ago though. Capt would be on a couple £k more than that.ciaranthemurph said:
It's no longer a good job in my opinion and if you were fancying something similar, you should look towards DP ships involved in support and supply roles instead. Much better money, conditions and career prospects. That's what I did!
Could also look to shift towards private yachtsDecent chief could be earning more than the captain due to shortage of people - 12k euros per month on a decent sized boat
This book should give you some idea - pretty good read:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/05/down-...
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/05/down-...
This book should give you some idea - pretty good read:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/05/down-...
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/05/down-...
Willy Nilly said:
I quite like the idea of working on a cargo ship, big stuff is always cool. But what you you actually do on them? At loading and unloading time I guess, depending on the ship and cargo you'd be quite busy. Then what happens when the vessel is out in the middle of the ocean? Surely there is only so much maintenance it needs and if it is new or just come out of dry dock it would need hardly any at all.
Just wondering is all.
If it's a long time out of drydock you spend all your time patching stuff that needs a drydocking to fix properly and endless painting to keep up with the rust; if you're just out of drydock you're busy undoing all the bodges the drydock maties have inflicted and discovering all the tools the stickfingered bJust wondering is all.
ds have nicked. It's a man's life on the ocean wave! 
I can imagine dry ships are a nightmare socially unless the company have given half a s
t and provided decent facilities and some recreational equipment. My limited experience is that a lot of beer is drunk in a futile attempt to blur the monotony of months on a ship with little or no shore leave as port stops are very short and maintenance/paperwork needs may prevent you getting off for a wander about.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff