Lack of berths/ modern cadetship

[JMS]

Hi all,
im going into my final sea phase and still require 4 1/2 months sea time. My company, whom i actually think are probably one of the better companies, appear to have no berths avaliable. This appears to be the norm through out other companies also. When calling the agency i originally applied through, they say they have cadets who have been waiting 6 weeks for a berth. Why do they take on so many cadets if they have no berths avaliable??
It makes me wonder, why do cadets put the time and effort in at college and when it comes to going to sea we are messed around soo much.
My first sea trip i was given 12 hours notice to get to an airport, and spend months away. Why can't companies give cadets notice for joining ships?! Surely companies know when they are going to have ships in port, how many berths are avaliable and how long for!
My experience of all of this would strongly advise anybody who wanted to join this industry to think again. It is not the glamarous life of a cruise ship that every potential cadet is sold at the interview.

[MEJG]

Re: Lack of berths/ modern cadetship

I wouldn't say we got sold on glamor... but more the lifestyle and world experience you get.

I am very sorry to hear that you're not getting sea time... have you looked in your contracts to see if that guarantees you the minimum required amounts of sea time or if there is a clause about failing to provide sea time?

The reason for so many cadets is two fold: -

Crease 1) There is a shortage of skilled officers in the UK and as such companies have been going bonkers to try to train as many as possible

Crease 2) Companies can make money from cadets so having so many on the books looks good for HMRC and some bloke in finance gets a pat on the back, whilst some bloke in HR gets a migraine to try to find you all placements.

Circumstances change quickly in this industry, if you know you're entering a sea phase then it's advisable to be on standby with the necessaries packed and ready to go... just in case you get short noticed again.

Thanks for sharing your experiences... hope you have better luck finding a berth