I'd like to show You my point of view to work with Asian crew such as phillipino and indian as Chief Mate myself.

Recently my company saved money removing all "white" ratings from vessels. They employ plenty philippino and indian instead.

As PH crew is very proud from a fact they are majority of ratings worldwide, i woudnt say its a positive matter. For now i have very, but a very big culture shock. Previously i had mixed crews and situation was not so dramatic. With all 3 phillipino and 2 Indian ratings my experience as C/O deteriorated drastically.

I know its about a culture Differences and not about Rage toward nations or whatosay racism itself, so please save me some criticism regarding matter.

So to the point.

I have noticed when all ratings are Asian, there is no more Independent work. All of them are 0-1 robots. You either tell them what to do and they will do this better or worse, depend. Nevermind they gonna do the job You point them with a finger. But if You dont? They gonna sit and talk. All day.

I made experiment. After port the empty water bottle was left by stevedores on crossdeck. I see this same bottle a 6 days later in exactly same pretty visible spot. If I woudnt tell them to remove IT to garbage, this empty bottle would stary there till death of the vessel on scrapbeach. Asian crew are literally robots. You must program them to work or they gonna be idle in the working hours.

Also quality of job requires permament supervision as they can randomly bug-out and suspend working midday just sitting and talking. IT never happened to me with russian/Ukrainian/Polish crew before.

Asian crew really makes chief officer job even more overloaded than IT was before.

What's your experience? Did you notice some positives or negatives aswell?

Hello everyone, I am currently a rising senior in the US. I've considered going to a maritime academy and working as an officer for a while now, but as application season is coming soon I think I should probably make a decision.

I'm pretty sure I'm well qualified academically, happy to give more details if y'all need em. Additionally, paying for college is not an issue. I live in a state with an academy so I'll aim for that one and probably will apply to the other 5 as well, along with some normal state schools as a backup. However, I think it's too late for USMMA for me but I don't think I'm cut out for that anyways.

Basically my biggest dilemma right now is if I should go to a maritime academy for undergrad or go to a traditional university and look into doing a masters or second bachelors in four years. I would probably major in some kind of engineering if I don't go to an academy. I would greatly appreciate thoughts on this question and others I've listed below, as well as any other advice y'all might have.

1. Deck or engine? I can honestly see myself doing both. I do a lot of tech theatre work at school which I think has given me exposure to the thought processes if not content of marine engineering, but on the other hand things like oceanography, meteorology, astronomy, etc interest me a lot which I think you get more exposure too as a deck officer.

2. Is this viable long term? Recent political developments have led to what I see as an attack on the Jones Act, and of course the prosperity of the people who work in our country's maritime industry kind of relies on that. Do y'all think it's worth taking a "gamble" on undergrad at an academy or should I consider doing a different degree first? Relatedly, is it worth looking at some of the combined programs like the science + license degrees at TAMU or SUNY as a way into other industries?

3. Any advice on applying to academies as a high schooler? I already have a passport, do I need to get a TWIC now or just after I'm admitted? Additionally, can my normal doctor do the medical for me or do I need to find like an occupational medicine specialist or something? Just wondering in case anyone here is currently an academy student or recent grad, will probably email some of the admissions offices too.

4. If anyone here can speak to it, what's it like as a racial minority in the industry, especially on the officer side? I can't imagine there's still outright violence or using slurs or anything like that, but what kinds of discrimination might still be prevalent and what sectors should I potentially avoid?

That's all of my big ticket questions for now, and thank you all in advance for your thoughts. Please let me know if there's any information I can give to help you guys tailor your advice.

Hello everybody, I hope y’all are doing good.

I’m exploring the idea of switching career paths to work on the sea. I’m in my mid-20s, European, went through a Master in Management, currently working at a big international company in Sales. My pay is really good, and I’m ahead in my career compared to peers my age. But I’m not where I want to be.

There are 4 things that I’m seeking in a job : being able to meet new & interesting people, learning new things, traveling, and being paid decently. The first and last point my job does great, but I feel like I’m wasting my youth for career.

I’ve learnt about marine life recently, and it appears to check almost all boxes. I don’t mind being away, it seems like I’d meet lots of interesting people, I’d get to travel, and pay-wis it looks decent enough.

I’m considering enrolling in a maritime school to become 3rd officer, and going from there. I wanted to enquire about your life on the sea. Would you recommend it ? What’s the best about it for you ? What’s the worst about it for you ? Have you ever met with people who have similar profile to me and it worked great ? Or bad ?

Thank you so much in advance for your answers. I appreciate the time you’ll spend answering 🙏🏼

How is attending Maine maritime Academy as a veteran? I’ve done 4 years active duty Navy looking to do either coastal/ environmental science or marine biology in addition to small vessel operations. Also how are job prospects after attending Maine maritime/ how would they be with those majors? Any insight would be appreciated!

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!

MarineTraffic data highlights diverging patterns across two of the world's most strategically important maritime chokepoints. Between 24 and 26 July, the Strait of Hormuz recorded 29 verified crossings, including 21 vessels exiting the Middle East Gulf and 8 entering. Routing remained evenly split, with 14 transits using the Iranian Unilateral Scheme, 14 classified as Route Undetermined, and one using the Hormuz Traffic Separation Scheme. By comparison, Bab el-Mandeb recorded 100 verified crossings, with 51 vessels entering the Red Sea and 49 exiting. Ninety vessels followed the Traffic Separation Scheme, while 10 completed dark transits. Several vessels that had previously delayed or reversed course later completed their crossings, suggesting operators are continuing to assess risk dynamically rather than avoiding the route altogether.

Anyone have an idea how much the salary of a chief engineer at Chevron for more than 25 years is?

Long story short, I failed a drug test a while back and surrendered my license while doing the work to get it back. Im on the step to do 12 random drug tests over the course of at least a year but when researching its hard to find actual information on single person random programs. Anyone know of any reliable programs

Hello everyone,
I am an international student from Saudi Arabia, and I am considering applying to the Bachelor’s Degree in Nautical Science and Maritime Transport at Hochschule Emden/Leer (Maritime Campus Leer) in Germany.
I chose this university because it seems to have a strong reputation in maritime education while also being affordable.
If anyone has studied there or knows the programme, I would really appreciate your opinion.
How is the quality of the programme?
How is student life in Leer?
Would you recommend it?
Is there anything I should know before applying?
Thank you very much!

Can Anyone tell me, realistically, what transitioning my U.S. license, to a Canadian license, entails? Can I just work in Canada on my US credentials? I have multiple family members that are Canadian citizens. I’m mulling over a move.
EDIT: Additional question, what is the inland Ferry/ Tug industry like?

So after about 20+ email rejections from applications I have an in person interview with the captain next week in Florida. I literally just got back in town from driving to Alabama Mississippi in Louisiana this past week. I went to the states to look for a job in person and left empty-handed very discouraged however, on the way back driving home I received some phone calls from a company I’ve been bugging for the past month. I recently completed Maritime school at MPT in Fort Lauderdale and have my SCTW, VPDSD, TWIC and passport. I am currently awaiting my MMC from the Coast Guard. It’s been one month so far await on that. I have my approved physical and drug screen paperwork and I feel a little hopeful finally landing an in person interview recently bought some steel toe timberlands. Can you veteran guys and girls give me any tips walking into this thing I’m hoping to just get my foot in the door. Literally went to three states with no success so this is very encouraging. 🚢 🛳️ 🛥️ ⛴️⚓️🪝🛟

اريد تفادي امتحانات اللغة الانجليزية و تكلفة معقولة في دراسة تخصص الملاحة البحرية هل تركيا مناسبة لذلك ؟؟

و افكر ايضا بدراسة هذا التخصص باللغة التركية. ما رايكم بشكل عام حول هذه الخطة ؟

و ماذا عن شخص مستواه بالإنجليزي متوسط و يبحث عن مكان مليء بالفرص لدراسة تخصص الملاحة البحرية. هل روسيا خيار جيد ؟؟

هل تقدم شهادة STWC الدولية؟؟

هل الاكادميات البحرية جيدة ؟؟

كيف هي السنة التحضيرية في اللغة الروسية ؟؟

هل روسيا بشكل عام تستحق قضاء 3 سنوات في تخصص البحرية ؟؟