On Becoming An Ordinary Seaman

[Kevin Murphy]

Sam
I fear as others have mentioned, getting a job as a British OS nowadays is nigh on impossible deep sea.
The only opportunity I can see is with the RFA. (Royal Fleet Auxilliary)
A life at sea nowadays, bears no resembelance to the wonderful stories & experiences which are reflected on the pages of this website (and similar), which is very sad.

There are limited opportunities on wind farm vessels, where I have seen some younger British crew, quite what training they provide I do not know, but the do not exclusively use Brits, there are a lot of Poles etc amongst them. That type of work is also a million miles away from the stories on these pages.

Given the very short sighted policy of shipping companies to training Mates & Engineers, the training of deck crew will be even further down the list of priorities.

On the cadet side of things there are several "older Cadets" one of my mentees is in his early thirties. Best of luck in your searches.

[j.sabourn]

In 1968 a chinese seaman was on 28 pounds a month a Philippino on 27 pounds a month a British seaman somewhere in the low 30s a month . However this does not tell the full story , the foreign crews I sailed with received no such thing as overtime payments and this is where the big savings for the shipowner were. Today I doubt if there are any gratuities such as overtime payments but may be wrong.British seamen when I sailed with such relied on such to support themselves and family’s. This was the thing the shipowner hit immediately after the strike finished in 1966. The first foreign ship I was on was at the end of 1966 and was Liberian flag, she had a Trinidadian crew they were on British Articles but with no paid overtime , however it suited them as was a regular runner to Trinidad and some had been there years.On the other hand the mates and engineers were on different Articles or Liberian to be precise and were paid differently and in US dollars.when you think the outgoing on running a ship runs into many thousands a day the biggest deduction for tax purposes is depreciation on the Hull and machinery , followed by insurance, the least deduction is crews wages , but is the only thing the shipowner has control over , so maybe like a lot of others he just likes to show who is boss. However he has now succeeded to bossing himself out of the British side of the industry . All those years the arguments about wages and Loss of Sleep money etc. all went down the scupper and today a seaman is stuck with a minimum 14 hour day , and supposedly with a wage to cover this . At one time it was a safety issue .Further proof if needed that safety is secondary to business. JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Good luck with your chase to become an ordinary seaman; You did revive my memory as to when I became one.
I was on the wheel halfway between Cape town and Freemantle when the skipper came into the wheelhouse and said, " Jenkin's, as from today you are now a Junior Ordinary seaman and your wages will go to, I think it was 12 pounds a month," I was elated as I hadn't kept count of how many months I had to go, what was as important was the fact that I wouldn't have to Peggy anymore. oh Joy.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Going to the Melbourne Seamans Mission as I do on occasions, I see all manner of different men from many countries.
English is not good for most so converse with other of their nation only most times.
The ships are in and out often on the same day, those who do speak say conditions are good as far as accommodation goes but that is about it.
Hours can be long and wages though they say better than at home they ae still not great.

Australian seamen, and there are still a few, will not be taken on board ships of foreign nations here, if they are then they must be paid under Australia awards rate of pay. Far too expensive so the only way they can get a berth is overseas.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Quite frankly I wouldn't waste any more time on this guy, we have heard nothing from him since his initial enquiry on 19/12, not a thank you, kiss my ass, or bu**er you, unless I'm missing a post somewhere. Some people you can help, others you can't

[Doc Vernon]

While not being Rude i too must agree with Ivan on his comments!
As i have said in the past, surely it is just common curtesy to give a thanks at least , or a short reply .
Oh well i guess we cannot please all!
Cheers

PS Mind you there are at times valid excuses i guess!
like Kicking the Bucket! LOL

Sorry in jest only!!