Figures the Coast Guard would drop this news right before the holiday weekend. Thanks to our friends on watch in the Gulf of Mexico who gave us the heads-up... AS OF JULY 1, 2011, NMC POLICY LETTERS 01-02 and 16-02 ARE CANCELLED Please see the below details from the USCG... Qualification for an STCW Endorsement as Officer in Charge of a Navigational Watch … [Read more...]
Hawsepipers: Why They’re Needed Now More Than Ever
The following is an article written by the good folks at the Towmasters blog: There is a powerful belief these days that you absolutely must have an advanced higher (formal) education to be of any real value in the workplace, unless you are functionally serving only as a draft animal doing the “unskilled” grunt work that no one else wants to do. The justification … [Read more...]
Hawsepiper: The Longest Climb Discusses the Pucker Factor in Craptastic Ship Design
Here's my bunker barge moored alongside a pretty little ship. Notice the little hose snaked between us. This is a small hose used for transferring small parcels of diesel. The fuel oil hose is twice that size, and the 30-meter (100-foot) hose we use most often weighs several tons, even when empty. Let's say you're going to spend... I dunno, between 15 and 75 Million US … [Read more...]
The New Hawsepipe – An Interview With Leonard Lambert
The following article is from the gCaptain archives but the information is very much still pertinent today! ____________________________________ Aboard almost every US flag ship is one seaman who forgoes the late night poker tournaments, racquetball games and is rarely seen watching movies in the crew lounge. He is sometimes called the Fourth Mate due to his propensity … [Read more...]
Mario Vittone – On Training
gCaptain contributor and Weekly Leader Podcaster USCG Chief Warrant Officer Mario Vittone, recently delivered the closing keynote at the USCG's Human Performance Technology Workshop. The speech is both entertaining and useful to all maritime leaders but the quote that really pulled me into the speech was: "Do you know what I learned in the last 20 years? What I learned and … [Read more...]
How Do Mariners Pay For Training?
For your Sunday morning reading we bring you a top post from the gCaptain archives. Enjoy! How Do Mariners Pay For Training? By Leonard Lambert Since the inception of STCW ‘95 on February 1st of 2002, the training and certification of mariners has become more streamlined. The heart of the certification process is multiple training schools spanning the country which … [Read more...]
Merchant Marine Jobs – 101 (or so) Tips To Find A Dream Job At Sea
Over the past few months the gCaptain team has been working hard to put together the internet's best Merchant Marine Jobs Board and, after finally launching it to the public in June, we have received great feedback from both job seekers and employers looking to hire. We are not maritime recruiters, therefore, the launch of the job board was no easy task or spur of the moment … [Read more...]