corsica
Senior Don Juan
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2022
- Messages
- 301
- Reaction score
- 384
- Age
- 44
There are many positions. The ones that take less training time are unlicensed. You have 3 departments:How much is the pay I heard the hours are what one month on one month off a lot of guys here in south Florida are heading to Alaska for work but a lot of them have criminal history.
- Deck (outside and inside the bridge)
- Engine (inside the engine room)
- Steward (working in the kitchen)
You can start as Ordinary Seaman (OS), Wiper and Steward Assistant (SA).
You can do short courses (less than a month) and get endorsements to work in those positions. You can make $8k/month on average.
After 6 months you can upgrade (to Able Seaman, Oiler and Cook). You can make around $375/day. Maybe more with bonuses.
If you join the Seafarers International Union, you can get training for free but their Unlicensed Apprentice course is long (consider it a year in total). But you'll be way more prepared. You can look for a local school out of your pocket for some basic training and go to a Union Hall (seafarers) and tell them that you want to join them and are ready to sail. Depending on the department, they'll call you in less than a month with a ship for you to work.
Having more sea time means you can do Coast Guard tests to get a license (and become an officer). Then you can make $20k/month.
Officers work 6 months per year. Unlicensed tend to work 8 months.
It's easy to get a job as an unlicensed. You go to your local union hall and there are dozens and dozens of ships you can choose from to work. Pick the one you're interested and that's it. You work there from 60-120 days and when you're done you can take as much times as you want to go back to a ship.