Sponsor Choice

[Raffa]

Alright guys!

In the process of choosing my sponsor company an do was wondering of anyone knows if there are any companies that are more/less likely to take you on if you put them in your 3 choices. Also, if any are more likely to keep you on after you've finished your training?

Cheers

[thebrookster]

I am assuming you are with Clyde Marine then?

With Clyde Marine, they pay little attention to your choices, unless you happen to put down certain companies like Chevron or Disney. These companies (I presume these are not the only ones, just these two are the ones I know about) tend to interview their potential cadets before accepting, so if you put one of them down as a choice Clyde Marine will send your details to them.

As it happens, I did not get any of the three choices I put down, I went for cargo deep sea, and ended up with Oil Tankers North Sea!! Turned out good in the end though.

Think through what you might want to do when you qualify, as that helps guide your choices. For instance, real sailing stay away from ferries and cruise, they tend to either do short distances repetitively or always aim for good weather. However, much larger crew, and generally better social life, but can be slower to move up the ladder. Cargo/Container are more deep sea, so you have a better chance of seeing the world. Tankers, good for the money, slightly more limited in sailing patterns but quite hard to get into later on, as they have extra certification requirements. Offshore - smaller boats so move a LOT more in poorer seas, more chance in port I reckon though.

A hint, Chevron are currently looking for engineers, and therefore maybe cadets (I see you aspire to Engine, good man!!) as well. Rumours of a fleet expansion as well, which could bode well.........

[SWonder]

Alright mate, good to see an aspiring engine cadet!

I am currently on Phase 2 at Sea on the Professional Diploma course at Glasgow. I went through Clyde, didn't get any of my 3 choices but instead I got sent for an interview with Northern Marine Management. I was accepted by them and have been on two ships this sea phase. I did a couple of weeks on Stena Mersey a Ferry and am currently on one of the Stena P-Max product oil tankers. Northern Marine Management manage the Stena Sphere and they have a pretty huge and diverse range of ships on their books, you will certainly get deep sea experience and be expected to do sea trips of 4 months + when at College, they are a great outfit though!

Chances are they will keep you on after you get your ticket providing you don't mess up!

Are you going to be a January start and is it for Glasgow College?

[thebrookster]

Stena are a good company, from what I have heard. One of my classmates is with them, currently preparing to do his steam ticket as far as I know (he is qualified already).

Incidentally, Chevron are also based through NMM, and I certainly get the impression that Northern Marine seem to look after their cadets better than some companies!!

[ETwhat?]

Its hard to give an opinion as you most people only have nothing to base it on, however NMM havent been bad and has been said they have a good sized fleet, It is worth pointing out that they dont manage all stena ships, so things like stena drilling which you will see plenty of pictures for you wont be with, and similarly they do manage other fleets so you may not be sailing on a stena ship.

trips will be 4 months give or take, to fit in around college, but you will most likely get more than your required sea time, as for being kept on i think that is as much down to you as it is them, if you dont make an effort as a cadet then there is no chance

[MacNeil]

I'm sure Gulf Mark Offshore interview candidates.

[thebrookster]

I don't know what the longer term plans are with Gulf, however for information's sake, I can tell you that they had two engine cadets in my class, neither were taken on after qualification.

Also, one of the downsides of going through the off-shore vessels is the difficulty to get some tasks signed off in your Training Record Books. For instance, you need tasks signed off for working on aux boilers and steam systems, and offshore boats generally don't have these apparantly. (They use electric heaters instead.) I know a few of the guys in my class had to do an extra course before they were allowed to qualify. Another issue with Off-Shore is for some reason it is harder to get your sea time in, several guys in my class ended up dropping back to join a later intake just to get the time in (basically longer second sea phase). This means your three years suddenly becomes 3 1/2 years.........

In terms of companies who I know have kept cadets on after they qualify, North Star Offshore kept/took people on (Craig Group), Holland America Line kept their cadets, not heard of them taking anyone else though, Disney kept their cadets (but have strict rules to adhere to, they def rank as one of the stricter companies!!) and took a couple on, Stena kept a guy on, and I heard they were looking for others but don't know if this became reality. Ohh, and I am now working for Chevron.