Working on ferries!

[mikeodude]

Hi there, I am really interested in doing my deck cadetship with one of SSTG ferry companies.
Please could you tell me your experiences with ferries in general and the company?
The type of work involved compared to other cadets on deep sea voyages.

Thanks for your help.

[AlternativeNavs]

Do you live close to any of these said ferry company operating ports? As if you don't it can prove troublesome. Surely you should already have some idea of what these companies do as you wish to work for them? Why not ask the same for deep sea companies, you might find them interesting to?

[size4riggerboots]

Ferries are boring. However, they do give you the opportunity to work short trips and get time for time leave. I don't think your proximity to the ferry port that you end up working out of would be an issue, as ferry ports always have decent road and train links. I was on a ferry going out of Holyhead (which is, frankly, the arse end of no-where) but one of the officers I was on with lived in Southampton, and most of them lived at least a couple of hours away. The commute might be a bitch, but at least it's only a weekly commute! (or once every two weeks, depending on the leave schedule). All the officers I was on with bar one had their masters ticket. I don't think it's an easy area to get into, as once a seafarer has done a bit of deep sea and had some fun, a ferry job is ideal for someone with family and they tend to stay when they've got it.

On the other hand, when you're on, it's hectic. We did 4 trips a day, and the OOW is responsible for the load as well (ie. you're on deck directing traffic, trying to work out where to put everything to make the ship end up with the right trim and list, in your head, you get a computer in the cargo office that tells you what the trim is at the time, but there's no opportunity to work it all out before, you do it on the hoof!). The hours aren't the usual 4 on 8 off, but you do end up doing the same amount of time as you would on any other ship, but in that time there's a lot more to do than just being on the bridge for 4 hours. It's repetitive, personally, I joined the MN to see the world and have a life full of variety, so it's not for me, but on the other hand, it's still better then being stuck in a grey office in a grey industrial estate!

[ETwhat?]

'but in that time there's a lot more to do than just being on the bridge for 4 hours.' hmmm that doesnt sound like the definition of boring that the OED has, in truth many people would say looking out the briidge window day in day out as you cross an ocean is boring, atleast when you handle cargo theres something to do.

If you want to see the world work on an irish sea ferry and on your two weeks off ever month fly to where ever you want to go. you'll see much more than from a bridge wing

[size4riggerboots]

Boring as in repetitive, same **** 4 times a day, (although you'll only do it twice a day) Same two ports over and over and over again, and no shore leave. But its only for a week or two at a time. ETwhat has a good point

[Red Fox]

'but in that time there's a lot more to do than just being on the bridge for 4 hours.' hmmm that doesnt sound like the definition of boring that the OED has, in truth many people would say looking out the briidge window day in day out as you cross an ocean is boring, atleast when you handle cargo theres something to do.

If you want to see the world work on an irish sea ferry and on your two weeks off ever month fly to where ever you want to go. you'll see much more than from a bridge wing

Spot on! See the bits of the world you want to see instead of some dump of container terminal or glimpses of some distant sandy looking place as your ship sits on a single point mooring. You do get shore leave and the working pattern for cadets still means you can have a home life and not miss three months at a time but still get all your seatime in.

I'd say ferry cadets if they are with a good company get a pretty good all-round eduction during their sea phase and come back with the tasks in the TRB actually done not just signed off as 'done' all magically on the same day with the same signature. The ferry cadets also seem to come back from their sea phase with less grumbles then their deep sea colleagues.

And I wouldn't call it boring either, no crossing is the same. You'll find no better environment to learn your rules of the road and you'll witness some pretty niffty shiphandling on a daily basis. The cargo work can be pretty challenging and as a cadet you will be put in charge of it under the supervision of the 2/O or C/O - over a thousand passenger, several hundred cars and a deck of freight to discharge and load the same again in as little as 45mins on some routes while juggling the stores lorry, the bunkers and the 101 other requests coming from shoreside, passengers and the engineers, beats hosting a table of old ladies.

Yes it not for everyone but for the cadetship it's a pretty good option and once your qualified there is nothing to stop you going deep sea if you want, you'll still get an Unlimited OOW ticket.

[ETwhat?]

I would add that while officers on a ferry will be doing 2 weeks on 2 off, as a cadet you are unlikely to get this , I did a 6 week trip when the rest of the crew were rotating 2/2 its not bad as it cuts down traveling etc it also gives you enough time to learn a boat pretty well you get different officers to learn from (bug the hell outta) and any tension is only going to be for a few weeks not for a few months.
As for time ashore I did pretty well, and on one ship very well but the vague rule was that outside your normal working hours if you were inport you could go ashore (assuming you didnt miss the boat) and at that time being in the same port all the time becomes really useful as you know where the shops are etc so while its rushed you can use the time efficiently ashore.
Dont worry about living near a port, thats a concern for post qualification when your wanting to travel for the least time to maximise your time off,