12 months sea time exactly?

[Unregistered]

Bit of a pickle here and wonder if anyone has any good advice; I'm due to sign off my last ship in November but due to the ships schedule I will be one day shy of 12 months sea time. I cannot stay on longer as signing off at the next port would leave me with less than 3 days before college starts to organise somewhere to live back in the UK, as well as other affairs.

Are the MCA to the book on it being 12 months plus or would 11 months and 30 days be acceptable? Or are there other solutions?

[size4riggerboots]

Contact your company and ask them, at the end of my last sea phase I was 4 days short on bridge watchkeeping time (the time I spent on the ro-pax ferry only counted as 6 hrs watchkeeping a day) My company organised a 4 day trip for me, which turned out to be awesome as it was a ship type I'd never been on before, crossing the English Channel with only the most basic of radars and no AIS etc, and I also met the guy who gave me my current job!

[EH75]

As far as I know you need a minimum of 12 months and the MCA will not accept even being one day short. Our college told us a story of one cadet who had to go back to sea for one day after being to college to do all his orals prep etc before he could get an NOE issued. That could be wrong but just what we were told. There were a few guys in my class who had to stay on until a couple of days before college started. There was one guy who landed back in the UK at 3am and had to be in college at 9am!

[skodanorman]

They won't allow you to sit the exam without 12 months sea service MINIMUM. I've heard they can sometimes give tougher questions to those trying to get through on 12 months and 1 day.
With the internet what it is today on ships I'm sure it won't be too hard to find some shared accommodation with friends.

I know it sucks to not get any good leave but its just once to ensure your future. Better than having to delay your to get more sea time.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[CharlieDelta]

Call the MCA. They're very friendly and they won't bite. Someone I know was 1 day short. He phoned up, they double checked his dates, found that he was, indeed, one day short, and said not to worry about it and to go ahead and apply for his NoE.

[Sdot]

I'd triple check to make sure you have calculated your sea time correctly. Try this... http://www.seatimecalculator.com/seatime.aspx

[bobofinga]

Like I tell everybody when checking their Sea Time , your much better off on the safe side with at least a few clear days extra than scrapping by.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the replies thus far. In response to size4, unfortunately this is not an option for me. My company only operates inter-continental routes so to sign on for even a few days is not possible.

As for organising accomadation with friends, this is not possible as they are all in the same situation as me and are all still at sea. Hence, I need a short period before college starts to avoid having to live in my car. Although I would like to have over the recommended 12 months sea time, due to my company shortening our earlier sea phases for reasons unknown to us this is not an option.

[EH75]

Ok here's what I would do in your situation actually. Email the MCA (training and certification branch would probably deal with this) outlining the situation and ask if they would accept you being one day short or not. They are the only ones who can give you a definitive answer. Once you have this, then you can decide what you are going to do.

There were several people in my class who didn't get 12 months sea time and what happened to them was that they were "back phased". Basically their sea phase was extended and they didn't come back to college for another six months (they got put in with the January class) to let them get all their sea time in. So whilst the rest of the class have now qualified, they haven't even gone back to college yet! You can e-mail your college and ask what their policy is on this if you aren't going to have enough sea time. This was at Glasgow btw but I'm not sure what other colleges do. I think some of them might let you go back with the rest of your class but then have to go back to sea after your orals prep and before you apply for your NOE or sit your orals. Having just done my orals, that would really have screwed up my preparation so I wouldn't fancy that.

You could then e-mail your company and see if they could find a solution for this. For example signing you off the ship you are on now earlier and putting you on a different one with a slightly different schedule straight away might get an extra few days in?

Also, since this is not till November is there no possibility of the ship' schedule changing? Or even signing off at 00:01 the next day if the ship will still be in port? That would technically give you an extra day.

[Clanky]

The answer is simple. As above, sort your accomodation out via the internet and stay onboard for the extra few days, even if it meant that you end up living in halls then bite the bullet and do it.

[EH75]

As for organising accomadation with friends, this is not possible as they are all in the same situation as me and are all still at sea.

How are they organising their accommodation then? Looks like you will all be in the same boat (sorry for the pun).

[Unregistered]

Clanky, I have to be there physically to sign contracts, view the property, meet the landlord etc. I really really really don't want to go back to the halls as the cost each month leaves me with little money for anything else and they are usually reserved for phase 1 cadets. Also, it wouldn't mean staying onboard for an extra few days but another 3 weeks (for the sake of one day). I've been onboard for almost 7 months straight already due to the company changing our sea time and I have minimum time when I sign off to see friends and family. I've sacrificed a lot for this career and to ask for enough time to sort somewhere to live for the final phase isn't too much to ask for so your option isn't really applicable.

[thebrookster]

Clanky, I have to be there physically to sign contracts, view the property, meet the landlord etc. I really really really don't want to go back to the halls as the cost each month leaves me with little money for anything else and they are usually reserved for phase 1 cadets. Also, it wouldn't mean staying onboard for an extra few days but another 3 weeks (for the sake of one day). I've been onboard for almost 7 months straight already due to the company changing our sea time and I have minimum time when I sign off to see friends and family. I've sacrificed a lot for this career and to ask for enough time to sort somewhere to live for the final phase isn't too much to ask for so your option isn't really applicable.

To be brutally blunt with you, it is only three years of your life, give or take. Many careers demand far more of your time than an MN cadetship, and if you really wish to succeed and gain a good name/reputation you need to put the time in. As has already been said, if you turn up at an Oral interview with bang on the minimum time served, your examiner is VERY likely to hammer you. Bear in mind he has probably come up the ranks the hard way, possibly starting as an OS and will therefore have served many years at sea before sitting his exams, and he will very skeptical about people trying to qualify with the absolute minimum. Sorry to be so harsh, but that is simply the way it is. Remember, there is no pass mark in an oral exam, it quite simply is up to the examiner.

Rant aside, do you possibly have the option of asking family/friends to look at sorting a flat for you guys? Or will your college allow you to take a room for the first week or so, to allow you to try and sort something out? Your other option of course is simply not to attend for the first week, just tell the college you need the time to sort houses etc. It is not unusual for cadets to miss the start of term anyway if they cannot leave the ship in time, so I cannot see that being a major issue, if you were to get in touch with them? (For example, I missed the first 3 weeks of my last college phase, due to breaking an oil rig, waiting for a storm to pass, fixing the oil rig, taking the load, then waiting for pilot and berth in Rotterdam!!)

Cheers,

Phil

[Clanky]

Clanky, I have to be there physically to sign contracts, view the property, meet the landlord etc. I really really really don't want to go back to the halls as the cost each month leaves me with little money for anything else and they are usually reserved for phase 1 cadets. Also, it wouldn't mean staying onboard for an extra few days but another 3 weeks (for the sake of one day). I've been onboard for almost 7 months straight already due to the company changing our sea time and I have minimum time when I sign off to see friends and family. I've sacrificed a lot for this career and to ask for enough time to sort somewhere to live for the final phase isn't too much to ask for so your option isn't really applicable.

Well unless you can arrange the seatime that you need some other way then you will not be able to sit your orals. If you are going to make a career at sea then you will find that you have to make bigger sacrifices than staying in halls or arranging accomodation at the last minute.

Shipping companies arrange your relief dates to suit the operational needs of the ship, while they will generally try to accomodate requests they will not always be able to do it and you may find that you have to miss family events such as weddings etc. this is all part and parcel of the job, the company will not change the schedule of the ship, just because you have booked a holiday.

[Polaris]

if you turn up at an Oral interview with bang on the minimum time served, your examiner is VERY likely to hammer you. Bear in mind he has probably come up the ranks the hard way, possibly starting as an OS and will therefore have served many years at sea before sitting his exams, and he will very skeptical about people trying to qualify with the absolute minimum.

That seems unreasonable. How can a cadet be blamed for only having 12 months seatime? In my group, I doubt there will be anyone with more than 12.5 months sea time, it's all down to our companies and length of sea phases.