Latsco London, can anybody give me some information about being a cadet with them?

[dustydom]

I am a first year HND cadet in my first phase with Clyde Marine as my training company. My choices where all short sea ferry company's, and the sponsor I got was Latsco London.

Has anybody who has worked on thier ships give some more information about them? Anything at all would be useful as long as it is constructive.

Would it be a good idea to learn Greek? Where do the ships sail from and to? How long will I be away for? Is there any opportunities to go ashore? Anything I should know about this company?

Thanks.

[billwillis]

Watch out for the Purple Aki. That's my advice.

[dustydom]

Huh?

I have no idea who or what that is. Can anybody else help with more constructive advice?

[gadget123]

Well it certainly isn't a short sea ferry company.

[YoungMariner]

I can't really provide any inside information, as I'd never heard of the company until your post. However from their website they appear to have a primarily modern fleet of Gas and Product tankers, which is generally good experience for the future. Being a London based management company, I'm sure that those onboard will be fluent in the English language, but as with most ships will probably be a mix of nationalities. I suspect you'll be deep sea operating worldwide, so it will be more interesting then short sea ferries and after you qualify you can always find work on the ferries.
You could always ask your training manager for some more information, but soon you'll be assigned a ship. Once you have the ship name you can google it and find out its recent itinerary and location from the 'Marine Traffic' website and discover the exact ship type and age.

Guinnessman might know of the company.

[tlloyd1983]

My friend did his cadetship with them. Gas ships, Filipino officers and crew, mixed review, but always take peoples reviews with a pinch of salt as they are highly subjective. And yes, they are deep sea and certainly not coastal. London management, Greek owners.

[size4riggerboots]

Watch out for the Purple Aki. That's my advice.

I for one would love to hear more about this. (And YES I have tried googling it, stories about some creepy guy in manchester in the 90's.... don't see how it relates to shipping)

I think some people need a little reminding how confusing and daunting it was before they got to college and got away to sea. Cryptic answers may be the first thing that pop to mind when you see a noobie asking about a company, as one tends to assume that they haven't bothered trying to to their research and come to us bleating for al the answers on a plate. (Dom, I'm assuming you're not one of those people here, don't let me down), but it's not one of the big companies, (I'd never heard of it before this thread) and the official company website isn't actually going to answer the OP's questions. Seriously, look at it.

[GuinnessMan]

That, plus a little time with Equasis told me bucket loads about them...

All seem to be fairly well run, no detentions for the last three years, few deficiencies found during PSC inspections but without access to SIRE figures then that's the most I can tell you....

[size4riggerboots]

That, plus a little time with Equasis told me bucket loads about them...

Are we talking in internet code here?? *sigh* I'm off to google... again...


FFS. Do I have to register my flipping details with EVERY website in the entire world??

[GuinnessMan]

Are we talking in internet code here?? *sigh* I'm off to google... again...


FFS. Do I have to register my flipping details with EVERY website in the entire world??

Yes and yes...

Oh, Equasis is rather good. Gives you the full information, including history and sometimes the Q88 of some ships!

[size4riggerboots]

[SARCASM/]Well thanks for sharing about this incredibly useful sounding website as soon as you found it [/SARCASM]

[GuinnessMan]

[SARCASM/]Well thanks for sharing about this incredibly useful sounding website as soon as you found it [/SARCASM]

I thought most folks knew about it? I know Alistair and Chiefy certainly did!

[billwillis]

I for one would love to hear more about this. (And YES I have tried googling it, stories about some creepy guy in manchester in the 90's.... don't see how it relates to shipping)

I think some people need a little reminding how confusing and daunting it was before they got to college and got away to sea. Cryptic answers may be the first thing that pop to mind when you see a noobie asking about a company, as one tends to assume that they haven't bothered trying to to their research and come to us bleating for al the answers on a plate. (Dom, I'm assuming you're not one of those people here, don't let me down), but it's not one of the big companies, (I'd never heard of it before this thread) and the official company website isn't actually going to answer the OP's questions. Seriously, look at it.

Put the 'mod' gun down on the floor. Step away from gun.

There's a perfectly good explanation for me mentioning the purple aki, who in essence, effects all of us*

Dom here is in my class; and should have got the joke. He didn't; it back fired; and now we're left with this ghastly situation.

*Only effects those who are 14-18, male, gym members and living in the north west.

[GuinnessMan]

So what exactly is the Purple Aki? You're not referring to that sex fiend are you?

[size4riggerboots]

*clutches mod gun close to her heart* Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....................

Ok, classroom banter misunderstood by people not in your class (and misunderstood by people in your class too it seems). End of.

Back to the original question... does anyone have personal knowledge of what it's like to sail with this company?

Would it be a good idea to learn Greek? Where do the ships sail from and to? How long will I be away for? Is there any opportunities to go ashore? Anything I should know about this company?

[GM, Equasis, is kinda useful but doesn't say where the ships go, what the people are like on board etc etc, which is what the OP was after I believe...]