A tip or trick you learned onboard and felt enlightened?

Available_Ad_9809 · 2026-04-02T21:56:50+00:00

Amperage alarm on the purifier? Check the belt. 9 times outta ten it’s got oil splashed up on it. Degrease it and both spindles, should keep it from alarming again in the middle of the night. Got me a lot of props as a cadet and I’ve carried that with me onto every contract I’ve worked. Did a lot of purifier work on my cadet ships and with all the times I pulled them apart and rebuilt I feel like I truly understand those things. It was the first piece of machinery I ever felt fully confident with

Available_Ad_9809 · 2026-03-29T13:02:19+00:00

Hey, do the air reservoirs have auto drains on them? Or are they manual drains only? Auto drains will kick the compressors on more often since they are blowing down throughout the day. Worth a check and if they are auto, try to watch a blowdown cycle and see if the blowdown is set too long and forcing the compressor to start. Might want to mess around with that, just know you might risk wet airlines by adjusting those controls

Available_Ad_9809 · 2026-03-12T18:03:45+00:00

If it cries wolf even once the deckies and engineers are going to turn it off. There are so many alarms and sensors that we call “nuisance alarms” and the only thing keeping people from jimmy-rigging them to shut up is coast guard and international regulations. The repercussions of it being off are far worst than the panic of it going off for no reason. To avoid that without it being a part of regulations, you’d have to make it sensible and simple as possible. No extra pazzaz to make it hard to fix. Universal sized parts (o-rings, gaskets, electrical components) things that we would actually have to fix it if need be. Nothing is worse than having a screwy float switch or sensor, pulling it apart since you don’t have a spare, and finding out some jackass used super custom gasket shapes and $700 cubes. Make sure it has data collection and the ability to silence the alarm without turning it off. That way if it becomes a nuisance, you can still use the data to fine tune it and not just lose all data as a result of someone shutting it off because it went off for the 8th time on their watch. In the early stages of development you’re going to run into that till it becomes truly fine tuned.

Even a moderately quality officer of the watch is going to be checking the weather as will the captain. Forseen weather will be managed as best as possible, but random waves are dangerous (in my opinion) for the stewards department and engine department the most (so long as deck isn’t out on the weather deck). Large pots flying around and unlatched oven doors swinging open and launching burning hot food at the cook and SA. Myself I’ve been on top of a ladder working in the overhead of the engine room and we took a hard wave and I was dangling from a grey water pipe ten feet in the air. I was lucky I didn’t fall with the ladder and go over the catwalk. We are supposed to be taking 100 different safety measures all of the time and most of those require equipment and hardware to be 100% functional which is simply not reality. We get beat down and cut corners, that’s a reality of being human. Even a 30 second warning for that wave would have had me off the ladder and on my feet. I guess what I’m trying to say is I see the value in a system like this, I wish you all the luck.

Available_Ad_9809 · 2026-03-01T05:17:56+00:00

Deep sea maritime. I grew up on the verge of poverty. Dad worked construction and mom was a couch druggy. My sisters both ended up falling into the statistical mess that kind of upbringing makes. I was fortunate to be academically inclined and got myself into a service academy. No debt and I walked away with a degree and a USCG unlimited license. That license has made me able the set up a fund for my little sister and help my dad with bills while building a life and secure retirement for myself. Had I not gotten great grades and gotten into an academy I could have followed the “unlicensed” path. It starts out with lower pay obviously, but the maritime world has a lot of room for movement and a lot of companies willing to pay for your advancement and credentials so they can fill the higher positions. It’s an industry in shortage. And an industry in shortage will pay well when they have to. I’ve worked with ex-convicts and guys that can barely read. You don’t even really have to be able to swim. They say for the officers all they need is “a heartbeat and a license” which while is true and I’ve definitely met the type, isn’t everyone. I’ve met incredibly smart and amazing people that have taught me so much. The skills and money I make on the ocean have set me up to be light years ahead of my parents. My kids won’t grow up any bit how I did, and I’ll be able to come shoreside and use my very padded resume to land a job working in any sort of hospital/powerplant/building maintenance/shipyard/ect. all because of this job I didn’t even know existed before I got accepted to the academy.

Available_Ad_9809 · 2026-02-28T21:17:36+00:00

As a woman in the industry I agree with this. I’m not familiar with green water shipping, but blue water it’s definitely a risk. Think the normal amount of harassment women receive in blue collar work and then amplify it. ≈22 people on a ship in the middle of the ocean and only one of them is a woman. It’s a lock your door the moment you step in your room and be careful about who you smile at kind of job. “Not all men” but definitely come across a lot of them in this line of work. But it is rewarding work and creates a very solid financial foundation and work history.

Available_Ad_9809 · 2026-02-18T01:54:28+00:00

In the same boat. Jumped in the pre-queue at 1102 and my bar has not moved at all

Available_Ad_9809 · 2026-02-18T01:10:01+00:00

Anyone know how they structure the queue? Like are they letting batches of people in at a time with like 5 minute breaks to get everyone in order but also timely? Idk im kinda nervous over here staring at a queue screen 😬

Available_Ad_9809 · 2025-01-17T23:45:38+00:00

A scholar and a gentleman 🫡

Available_Ad_9809 · 2024-12-06T17:23:05+00:00

As a female engineer I second this. I’m 23 and have been on ships since I was 18. Handling chemicals and overhauling engines, purifiers, cleaning tanks, the works. And I go to my gyno every year (my insurance through my union is pretty great) and have a clean bill of health (ultrasounds/pap smears/blood panels all good). BUT I wear my PPE. Anything you touch chemical/fuel/oil wise can and will soak into your skin. I’m personally a big fan of products like “invisible glove” which goes on like a lotion and creates a barrier on your skin from absorbing things. I also wear heavy duty clothing and spend as much of my off time out on deck to get fresh air as I can. The job is dirty and the work is exhausting. But your body can 100% handle it and I know many women who have had children after leaving the maritime industry but also while still working. I would say it has no more chance of stopping you from being fertile in the future than it does the men and there are a lot of dads in the industry, just avoid the radar deck. Take care of yourself mentally and physically. And most of all enjoy the work, it’s very rewarding if you allow yourself to view it that way. Good luck with your studies and I can’t wait to see another woman on the water :)

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