Fitness

[Victoria Backley]

Hey
Am 16 years old and recently turned away from my original life plan as a marine biologist cas i realised i hated biology haha but i need a life at sea and a bit of adventure and i found the merchant navy and it is perfect for me l however my main concern is none of the websiyes tell you to what fitness level you must be at and this is a grave concern for me as i am currently not the fitest though i have been working on it and i am willing to try and reach whatever level i must be at to join i am unaware of what this level is so i was wondering if you could help advise me on what to do 🙃 thank you.

[John Arton]

Patricia
Go to the marine and Coastguard web site and look for the section" working at sea" and there is a part that gives the medical standards required to work at sea. Also keep a close look at South Shields Marine College, as they often have open days for those seeking to work at sea. There are also a number of web sites such as Clyde Marine that offer you a career at sea. You will be employed as a cadet (deck or engine), first then after gaining the required sea time you will sit examinations that, if successful, will allow you to take charge of the watch on board, where you will bear responsibility for the ship, it's cargo,. Crew and protection of the environment. Throughout your cadetship you will spend time on board and also in a marine college where you will be taught various subjects and expected to pass exams in them.
Life at sea is completely different these days to what most of us here experienced with little time in port these days but it does teach you independence, exposes you to different cultures and languages along with giving you to see and experience sights that most people can only dream about, while still receiving a pretty decent salary. There was an advertisement on one of the big requitment sites recently saying there was a big demand for new entrants to the Merchant Navy, so get searching online and good luck.
Rgds
J.A.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Victoria.
Unfortunately it is a different world to what we had, fitness in our days came down to more or less if the Dr passed you and you were breathing OK you signed on, plus the number of ships were in the thousands so seamen were in demand then.
But go for it, as it is a life that everyone on site would jump at again given the chance.
John has given you some good advice and I'm sure there will be others. I no longer know anything about training venues, being out here in Country Aus, but I'm sure there are still quite a few around in the UK.
Cheers Des

[j.sabourn]

Victoria without going into minimum fitness levels whatever they are today. You should check your eyesight for colour blindness think this will still be one of the main requirements even for the engine room today. Once you have satisfied yourself whether or not you are, that will be the time to worry about fitness, which is not anywhere near an atronauts standard. Regards JWS.

[j.sabourn]

Victoria get tested for colour blinfness before anything else which would imagine is a must today for engine room as well as deck . Can’t imagine the fitness test being any where near thatt of an astronaut. Don’t worry too much. Regards JWS. Please ignore have already answered and won’t delete. JS

[cappy]

#in shields in the 50s and 60s it was read the letters ......have you got all your teeth .....droppem and cough.......dont know about the latter for the ladies.....probably today its a full BP check and body scan .....lol cappy

[j.sabourn]

Regards to BP have had high readings since 15 had to wait until 62 before they decided they wouldn’t pass me unless got down with tablets. Hence today live with tablets all because. Of a long dead now shipping doctor in Fremantle. He was younger than me when he kicked the bucket. So much for Doctor heal thyself. Cheers JWS

[John Arton]

If Victoria does check in and read my post, then my apologies for calling her Patricia, was having a senior moment.
Rgds
J.A.

[j.sabourn]

Just hope you don’t make the same mistake with your missus John. She may not take the senior moment excuse. Cheers JWS.

[j.sabourn]

What a wonderful age to be 16. The world at your feet and all those years hopefully ahead of you. Don’t however be deluded by stories you read on here, they are mainly of the past and seldom have any relation of today. The sea was in most cases a hard life or would be today. To those contemplating the past. If you want to be around ships there are other paths to achieve that with probable longer career length. Oceanography for a start, dynamic positioning operator for another, numerous technical jobs in today’s navigational systems. They may employ various journeys to ships for short periods of time , but will more than likely prove more conducive to what you seek, rather than stay on some large box for months on end waiting for something to happen which probably never will. It’s a pity you have gone off biology as am sure this could have been incorporated into something in a seagoing profession. If you notice on this site most of those went ashore before attaining 65 , this should tell you that a persons attitude to life and what they want out of it changes as you get older. Yours will as well. You will have to find this out for yourself however as like the rest of us had to go and have a look for ourselves. The best of luck on whatever you do , just keep in mind there is not a silver lining behind every cloud. Those advertising the sea as a profession in glowing terms are no different than those who advertise Persil Washing Powder , they are employed to sell a product which they have really no idea as to the workings of. I always change channels when the adverts come on. Best of luck JWS.