What does MSC pay deck officers and engineers?

[SubGuy]

OK, I've been trying to figure out how much mates and assistant engineers and masters/chengs make on MSC ships. Could somebody point me to a pay scale listing?

Specifically I'd like a feel for:

What does a 2/M make per month? What about per year if he sails 6 mos/yr?
What does a 2A/E make per month? Per year if he sails 6 months per year?

Also, how much will they pay for training at MITAGS and other schools (to get course not offered at the MSC training centers)?

Thanks!

[Capt_PatrickMacan]

What is this 6 mos. a year crap?
Those guys cant get 3 months a year off from what I hear!

[SubGuy]

Yeah, I heard it's bad-- especially special mission ships!

OK, what about 9 months per year?! Do I hear 12?!?!

[Retired Rat]

It was on the MSC website as a PDF about a month ago. I just searched and can't seem to find it right now. Very involved piece of work. Separate scales for East and West Coast, Class of ship, plus about 15-20 EXTRA pay rates. (i.e. part of an explosives handling team = $75.00/hr on top of pay). If you would like, I work about 6 blocks from MSCFC on Birdneck rd. I can run over there tomorrow, grab a copy of all the pages, and post them here???

[SubGuy]

Don't worry about it Rat. I'm just curious. And I found the .pdf last month too but it's disappeared.

CONSPIRACY?!?!

[Retired Rat]

<h2><span style="font-size: small]Capt_PatrickMacan is right. We hired a guy away from MSC about 4 months ago. He was a QMED-Any, and couldn't get a break. Kept getting called at home while on shore leave, " we need you man" He took a big pay cut so he could go to school at night.</span></h2>

[Retired Rat]

oops, don't even know how I did that.....going back to bed now.......

[SubGuy]

Found it!
http://www.msc.navy.mil/civmar/payroll.htm
Rat: it's an .xls now.... And boy is it a weird pay scheme.....

[john]

Get your own at Scribd or explore others:

[SubGuy]

Thanks John!

[New3M]

I know somebody who sailed 11 out of 12 months with MSC, various ships, and was out for something like 7 months on his first tour as a 3 A/E and cleared $125,000.

[CMA_Decky]

From what the mates on the oiler I was on were saying they make about 110k-125k. You do have to work for more each year but theres a lot more liberty and time in port than a commercial ship. Depending on the ship you can actually spend more time in port than at sea. I was on the Pearl Harbor duty oiler and of the the last three weeks I was on the ship we spent maybe a week at sea (man it was a hard summer <img alt="" src="http://gcaptain.com/maritime/forum/js/FCKeditor/editor/images/smiley/msn/teeth_smile.gif" />) The base yearly wages look low but as was previously mentioned you make a lot of your money in OT and other extra bonuses.

[Kingfysh]

I sailed MSC for three years and I was on one ship for two of those three years. You will never ever only work six months a year, if you are really lucky and know how to game the system you will be able to get three to four months off a year. It is true that you will set up training with them and suddenly be recalled in the middle of the class, that never happened to me, but it did happen to friends. As for pay, it varies a lot, if you are on a ship that is in the US a lot, your pay will be higher than if you were deployed to the Middle East. The reason for this is that several years ago during the union negotiations the unions slipped in a clause about paying mates and engineers OT whenever they are in a US port and not given a relief mate for the watches outside of normal working hours. Of course this was BS and the union never expected it to be accepted, but whoever signed the contract didn't read it too closely and that made its way through.....Now this may have changed since, I left that bung hole outfit three years ago.......As a 3/M I averaged between 8,000 - 12,000 a month, as 2/M 9,000 - 13,000, these are approximate, since it was awhile ago. I never sailed on ammo ships, but there is a lot of money to be made on there, more than I made. However, that money requires that you are going to have to put up with a lot more BS.... a lot more....ammo sucks and most of the ammo mates I worked with were pricks. They love security and having security drills, I never sailed on an ammo ship, this just what I was told, but I heard it from a lot of people......MSC is fun to make some easy money, see some nice parts of the world, and suck at the government tit for a little while. However, it is very poorly run and they treat their employees poorly at times. It is fun for a little while, make your money and get out.

[SubGuy]

Great information so far. I'm considering MSC as a place to get some experience after transitioning out of the Navy. I hope to have a deck and
engineer license when I retire.


What about benefits? How much do they/will they pay for schools that aren't available at their MSC training centers?

[Kingfysh]

Being a dually won't really help with MSC, you are hired as either a 3/M or a 3A/E and the two don't mix, not that we didn't get along, I just never heard of anyone sailing as a 3/M on trip and then a 3A/E the next. Anyway, the benefits are pretty good, you get to choose from all the health care options that are provided by the Feds and from that selection there are some pretty good plans. They match 8% on your 401k, although you only receive that 8% once you complete three years of service. If you leave prior to accumulating three years you only get 2%, I think.
Now schooling, this is a major sore point for many of their mariners. They will swear up and down that they will pay for and allow time off for upgrade classes or other training they may require. However, actually getting them to do as they say, is another matter. Right now they will pay for upgrade classes, although you have to pay up front and you get reimbursed upon succesful completion of the license exam (This is from a friend still with MSC). Getting them to agree to this can be difficult, since they only allow people to take classes as they see will benefit MSC the most, ie if there is a surplus of C/M they don't see it beneficial to train another. MSC got burned pretty badly years ago by some ABs that took advantage of a very generous AB to Mate program, they viewed it simply as an extension of their vacation and never finished the program.
Honestly, I would look elsewhere. There is no career at MSC, it is good to make a little money and move on. The problem is after you move on you will realize that aside from standing a bridge watch, you learned nothing. No cargo ops, no ballast, no maintenance, etc. MSC ships are overmanned and typically under worked, you will spend a lot of time taking care of people that have nothing better to do then start fights amongst themselves and there are more then a few people that could not function in society, but some how got a job with MSC, that you will also have to babysit.

[redkorn]

If you have lost your will to live then come work for MSC.

[SubGuy]

LMAO!
Soooo... what's the best outfit for an AMERICAN deck officer to work for when just starting out (especially if it's a mid-life career change)????
Anybody have experience with Horizon or one of the other big U.S. flagged "niche market" lines?

[Jeffrox]

You are going to have a nice pension and so sitting in the MMP hall shouldn't be a problem for you, do that - I started it once and I wish I had followed through with it

[El Capitan]

I know of a 24 year retired 0-6 that just celebrated his 15th year with Chouest, and is about to collect his 2nd pension. If your clearance is intact, and your overall knowledge of Navy Ops is good, you should give the government division at Chouest a call.
The VADM Wheeler, an OPDS platform, is in Guam on long term contract with a 2nd sister vessel in the works.
The Sea Venture is out on the W. Coast as well, you can make your own inquiries as to what it is that they do, but if you're from the sub community you probably already know.
Most of the DSRV boats are coming home with the advent of the new rescue platform, as is NR-1's shadow, but there certainly still are opportunities where Top or better clearance that's active could come in handy at ECO. Since you have some time before you're ready to go, make a few phone calls and start doing a little glad handing now if it's something that interests you.
Just a few more thoughts for you to consider...

[tengineer]

"Anybody have experience with Horizon or one of the other big U.S. flagged "niche market" lines"
Horizon headquartered in Charlotte NC is in the midst of some financial problems right now, I wouldn't recommend them. OSG is relatively secure. The better jobs on non-MSC vessels are MEBA contracted but it takes a little time to build up the seniority to get them. If one is doing a 'mid-life' career change you have to determine if you will be able to work long enough in a union to get their excellent pension. If not, it's probably better from a financial stand point to check out the unlimited oil industry vessels. Patriot Services has MSC contracts and that's another option to gain experience. There are lots of opportunities but you have to get the relative experience under your belt before you get the top dollar and the competition can be fierce for the top paying jobs. The maritime industry is just like any other industry in that respect. You have to keep striving to increase your knowledge and qualifications. The best companies pay for your training and pay at least a partial wage while in school. The best companies also don't have to advertise very much, if at all.