I think that anyone that has a career in the merchant marine today has to at least acknowledge that tankers are a well-paying career. There are a lot of coastwise opportunities, so people that don't want to do extremely long tours, the tanker industry tends to be, you know, two-month to three-month tours.
I really liked the engine side as well as deck, but I wanted to be able to work outside, and so I felt like tankers were that really good in-between of being a deckie, but also turning wrenches and fixing equipment out on deck.
As an alumni of Maine Maritime Academy, I think our tankers program is really unique in that we really prepare people to hit the ship and stand their first watch with confidence.
Our program is very successful in putting people into the industry as third mates directly out of school with their full PIC. If you complete the tanker courses here at Maine Maritime Academy, you'll graduate with a Tankerman Assist, which is an endorsement on your license that allows you to assist in tanker operations. If you complete cadet shipping on a tanker and get 90 days on a tanker in your loads and discharges, you can graduate with a full PIC, which allows you to immediately stand your own watches on tankers.
We're the only school that has an actual physical tanker model. They're actually using a physical model of a tanker to learn those first steps about transferring cargo, how pumps work, how tanks work. It's a unique item that they might not get anywhere else.
I think the value of cadet shipping and the summer cruises, they just add to your experience. It's not just you're learning it in a classroom, you're actually going to be out applying it on a boat, just like how you're going to be doing when you graduate and get your license.
It's very unique to do deck and engine on our freshman cruise. And so the deck obviously taught me a lot about nav and working out on deck, but the engine side also taught me very invaluable experiences for working on a tanker.
I know what the industry is looking for and what they need. And I'm able to kind of tailor the course to provide those things to students while they're coming through here. And we also work very closely with the Industrial Advisory Committee, where we actually bring people from tanker companies in to help us on campus understand changing regulations, changing needs, and what our tanker students need.
Tankers are a great opportunity for students that like engineering. It's a very hands-on deck job that if you like those things and are mechanically inclined, it's a terrific avenue. You can do the navigation on the bridge, and then on deck, you're actually working physically with your hands and doing things that are traditionally considered more of an engineering role.
Any of the success I have moving forward has to do with Fairwater and Maine Maritime.
If you're looking at it for a challenging, high-paced coastal career, I don't think there's any place better to go than tankers.
