Marine Engineering cadetship questions...

[cybergibbons]

Hi,

I'm interested in persuing a career as a marine engineer and have been offered sponsorship by P&O Nedlloyd to start this September.

I've read a few disheartening things on the NUMAST website about cadets being recruited then dumped at the end of training. How often does this happen? Which companies are the worst/best in this respect?

The other thing are the pay/allowances/other thing that each company provides. Which ones are the worst and best? From what I can see, P&O seem to offer more pay than other companies.

And if anyone has got any advice or experience of marine engineering cadetships, then it would be good to hear them too.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Equinox]

At the risk of repeating myself I would say it is best to read the other posts in this section about deck officers etc as some of the info there relating to employment is equally applicable to engineers. As I have mentioned before I would not recommend this 'career' choice as so many cadets are now dumped at the end of their training and it really is disheartening to see how they are treated considering the effort they have put in during their cadetship.

They compnay will not be out of pocket for training you as they get tax benefits due to being UK flagged and they can also reclaim a percentage of cadet training costs from a government training fund so they are quids in regardless! Both this training scheme and the tonnage tax benefits are funded by the British tax payer but there is no requirment to employ British cadets once they are qualified.

P&O seems a bit of a dodgy choice. In the space a few short years they have gone from being a huge shipping empire owning ferries, cruise ships, container ships, road logistics and ports amongst other interests. The cruise business was sold off in 2002, its ferry operations are being scaled down consistently, it was trying to sell its road logistics business, and it only has a 25% shareholding in P&O Nedlloyd. It will probably hang on to this share in the short term as freight rates are healthy at present but as soon as they start to dip for the long term then they will probably sell this share also.

P&O are now concentrating on their terminals rather than actual ship opoeration and management and are buying or acquiring shares in various ports around the world.

The only companies/organisations that you could hope to have a long term future with as a british officer are Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Trinity House. However the RFA is not commercially orientated and Trinity House is not exactly mainstream commercial so you may find it difficult to get a job ashore in shipping opreations after some time at sea. Once qualified the other sector you could possibly move into is the superyacht sector as at present there seems to be a desperate shortage of STCW'95 qualified engineers.

 

[Rowana]

My advice would be to go for it.

OK, once your training is complete they may no longer require your services, but there is always opportunities for good marine engineers.

I've been in the offshore oil and gas industry for the last 30 years after a spell at sea, and we have a good many ex-merchant navy and "Grey funnel line" guys working here now.

You also have to remember the "baby boom" generation from just after the war. I'm one of them, and ever since I was at school there has been more people of my age than even a couple of years older or younger. We'll all be retiring in the next couple of years, so there will be a big skill shortage when we all go.

So that would be my advice anyway. The days of joining one company for a lifetime career are LONG gone. You'll get good training, and have some very marketable skills at the end.

Good Luck ! !

Jim

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[Equinox]

On the face of it it does appear to make sense that if a large percentage of officers are due to retire then there be an automatic demand. However it is important to look at the bigger picture. When I was a cadet in the 1990's ship's officers were telling me exactly the same things. For various reasons this much anticipated demand never materialised. The new modern tonnnage that has been introduced requires lower manning and training of foreign officers has improved. British officers no longer stand head and shoulders above other nationalities when it comes to skill and professionalism at sea.

Stricter international training standards were introduced a few years ago in the form of STCW'95 which closed the gap between the various different nationalities. Many of these are now seen as an equal to British standards but foreign nationals are cheaper to employ. You should visit the various nautical colleges at Warsash, South Shields and Glasgow and see for yourself how foreign nationals studying there vastly out number the number of British officers and cadets studying there for certificates also.

Foreign officers are cheaper and that remains a fact and will remain so till long after I've retired. Why pay a higher price for the same product? I wouldn't! You may acquire good skills but if there is no demand for them then they are redundant. You should try looking at the undergraduate degree courses that combine a cadetship as at least you will have a recognised qualification to fall back on in addition to a marine engineers cert of competency....the best of both worlds.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

Having served for thirtyeight years as an Electrical Officer/ETO with the RFA I would say that the engineering cadetship was as good as any and the RFA will retain cadets. I know many who are now Chief Engineers/Superintendents both wit the RFA and commercial companies, also many who have moved on to shore based employment with much success.
Try the unofficial RFA web site listed below and use the links for the Official site and other points of interest.
Yes the RFA is different from commercial shipping but it is interesting and you do get some good runs ashore in both commercial ports and foriegn Naval ports as well.
Give it a go and Good Luck.
http://www.rfa.freeuk.com/