God, this is so complicated. Can anyone please help me with this? I'm the neet eurofag that posted in this and last thread that's looking to get into this.
So my first question is what are the basic requirements of an Ordinary Seaman, or rather what are the most basic requirements to work on a boat? From what I can tell first I need the STCW basic training course(V1-4), passport, medical exam, and if I'm going on a ship that sails under a different country's flags, I also need to send the previous stuff to them to get verified by that country. Is there anything I'm missing?
Second question is what can I actually do with this. Earlier someone said that I wouldn't be able to sail on vessels that go beyond near coast without a rating rank. I checked the EU regulations and it doesn't even mention Ordinary Seaman and only has ratings as the lowest level. Does that mean that I can't do anything under EU regulations? Does that also apply if I go on non-EU ships? Otherwise how am I supposed to acquire a rating? Stick to near coast vessels like tugs, ferries, fishing boats for those first six months?
The STCW rulebook also doesn't mention Ordinary Seaman and lists ratings as the lowest level. Am I reading it incorrectly?
Third question is, where can I actually find ships to work on? I found some website called
maritime-union.com, but I don't know if it's good.
Fourth question is, someone mentioned earlier that I should check what my country's specific guidelines are, but if I can't find them online, how am I supposed to get them? Should I email or call our maritime academy or maybe the Maritime Administration?
The more I look into this the bigger pain it seems. I wish I was American and could just join the SIU. I'll probably try to keep searching online for a while, otherwise I might try to go for the academy route even if that'll take a long time. But I also wanna try what it's like working on a boat before I put myself into debt for it.
