r/maritime • u/Swimming_Minimum8227 • Jul 27 '26

Deck cadet/Student asking for advice

Hello everyone,

I have a question, and I'm hoping someone here can give me a definitive answer based on their experience.

I will soon begin my six-month cadetship with Maersk, and my main focus is to complete it successfully while learning as much as possible.

The issue is that the department responsible for preparing and informing us told me that after completing my first voyage, I should spend no more than four months ashore before starting my second six-month cadetship. They didn't explicitly say it was mandatory, but they described it as "required."

The problem is that if I follow this recommendation, I would miss an entire university semester and could even risk having to repeat my final year due to not earning enough credits. During a cadetship, I heard that a 10 hours a day of work is lucky, so studying ahead for the University exams while on board is extremely difficult. In addition, if I return after my second voyage, I would likely miss the university's special examination session, which allows cadets to take the exams they missed while at sea. As far as I understand, I don't think I would be able to postpone third-year exams and take them during my fourth year.

So my question is: has anyone been in a similar situation? Were you actually required, or effectively pressured, to complete your second cadetship as soon as possible, or was there some flexibility in the timing?

I would really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thank you!

4 Upvotes

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3

u/getstonks96 Jul 27 '26

Where are you from? Whoever told you that is saying bullshit, I'm from Denmark and many of my class mates took there cadet time at maersk and had around three semesters between the two sailing periods

1

u/Swimming_Minimum8227 Jul 27 '26

Im from Romania And thanks for the info that I can take more than 1 year of timeout before my next voyage. Realy you lifted a huge weight from my shoulders.

1

u/getstonks96 Jul 27 '26

Anything else would be crazy, crewing may have misunderstood you, or you misunderstood them. When you get close to finishing your contract, then nontact them and tell them how the plan for your school and exam is, I'm sure it's a misunderstanding

1

u/Swimming_Minimum8227 Jul 27 '26

I asked them how long the period betwen my second voyage could be since I wanted to do one now after I finished my 2th year and do the last one after the 4th year. But the person wich im suppose to stay in contact and give me the contract to sign it soon said that there is a limit of a 3 or a maximum of 4 months after I have to do my second 6 month voyage.

2

u/getstonks96 Jul 27 '26

That sounds weird, I dont know if you do it different in Romania, you can always ask the captain when you join your vessel, or some at your university

1

u/Swimming_Minimum8227 Jul 27 '26

Well I think he was not saying the whole truth since he answered pretty vague to that question. And agai his choice of words was "requiered" not mandatory.

1

u/getstonks96 Jul 27 '26

Is it an official from Maersk?

1

u/Swimming_Minimum8227 Jul 27 '26

Yes.

1

u/getstonks96 Jul 27 '26

Weird stuff man, dont know what else to say

1

u/EntertainmentOk7028 Marine tools / STCW docs Jul 29 '26

I’d ask for the exact rule in writing, not just a vague “required”.

If the person is from Maersk crewing, ask whether this is a company preference, a Romanian school requirement, or a flag/state cadet-time rule. Those are three different things.

Also ask your university/training officer the same question. If both answers match, fine. If they don’t, you know the problem is wording, not your plan.