Sea time

[cressida]

I am starting Phase2 at the end of January and am not sure how this all works. I understand I will be away for abiout 8 months but how is this normally arranged? WIll I be away for the whole time or will I be away for 4 monthsthen get a break during which time I will be able to come home? I am sure I will be told in detail at some point but I am sure that other people have done this and can advise.

[minchmermaid]

Re: Sea time

Who are you going away with?

[purelywelsh!]

Re: Sea time

I have the same question ......I will be with North Star Shipping and was wondering if anyone is/was with them?

[alistairuk]

Re: Sea time

how long you are away depends on your company... the course has "8 months allocated time" when you are out of college, most companies will give you a few weeks off either at the end of your sea time or in between - particularly if you are changing ships. If you are unlucky you might only get 1 or 2 months at sea!

I ended up doing 6.5 months during my first sea phase, which gave me 1 week off after finishing college then 3 - 4 weeks off when I got back from sea before going back to college.

Cadets with other companies did anything from 2 months - 5 months.

[kayak]

Re: Sea time

6.5 months straight on the same ship?

[penfold]

Re: Sea time

I have the same question ......I will be with North Star Shipping and was wondering if anyone is/was with them?

Most of North Star's ships are ERRVs, so it's a good bet you'll be on 4 weeks on 4 weeks off rotation.

[Malim Sahib]

Re: Sea time

Cadets receiving 1for1 trips/leave, surely not? More like 4 or 8 on, 1/2 weeks off and back aboard again.
As a Deck Cadet the seatime most lads get these days is so minimal (only 12 months) that its essential you get as much time in as you can as a gadget - you'll appreciate it when you're let loose on your own as 3rd Mate!
When I was a cadet we gained a weeks leave for every month served, so we'd do 4 months away, 4 weeks at home and then another 4 months away. In my case it went by the board pretty quickly as amongst the usual 4 months and a couple of 1 month trips coasting, I did a couple of 6 monthers as a cadet - ships with great runs with a great bunch of blokes onboard. Still came back skint of course.
6 months was the most the company would let us do in one stretch alas - given half a chance I'd have stayed on the Aus/NZ/South Pacific run forever!

[alistairuk]

Re: Sea time

6.5 months straight on the same ship?

yer - all of the Viking Recruitment lot (in my group) did it during their first sea phase... it seems a long time to begin with but it flies past.

[north_sea_ninja]

Re: Sea time

I am sponsored byNorth Star, In fact, at this moment I am on the Grampian Surveyor out in the Baltic.

Mostly the NS fleet are ERRVs, thats true enough. If you do end up spending a large part of yr cadetship on them, then the form will be 4 weeks on 4 off. That being said, depending on the berthing arrangements (NS have 65 cadets in the pipeline, and 32 ships to fit them on) you may be able to do more. That would mean doing 4 weeks (The max for standby according to the Oil company regs) and having say 1 week off. This is a good way to get plenty of sea time in, whilst getting around the fleet a bit and getting to know as many of the crews as possible (Important when you consider you could be working with them once you have yr ticket in yr hand)

There are also 3 supply vessels and one survey vessel that are easier to get longer trips on as they are in port every other day or so, unlike the ERRVs which will sail on day one and not return to port until day 28.

PM me if you would like any more info on NS.