SIU Apprentice Program VS. Maritime Academy

Depending on your current situations and your own opinions on things the choice to do which route is yours. Both the SIU Apprentice Program and a Maritime Academy have pros and cons. To me personally they might even out in the end but I went into this career with no debt towards my training or my learning and I came out with no debt towards the training or learning while making money in my pocket in less than 2 years. A Maritime Academy is just like going to college. That's going to be 4 years of college student loan debt your getting yourself into to then have to pay back for who knows how many years after that. What if you get into all that student loan debt, finish the Maritime Academy and then decide to settle down with a partner and not sail anymore. You'll still be paying that student loan debt accumulated from the Maritime Academy. And by the time an Officer gets out of the Academy and starts making paychecks the SIU Apprentice has already worked 4/5 years in the maritime industry making their paycheck and eligibility to become an officer as well. With the option for the Deck Department of free classes to become and 3rd Mate still debt free.

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[hereticsaint]

The best training and experience comes from being on the job. I'm not a mariner, but I've seen this time and again with every other field, so I would say it's the same for you.

[chuckbecker]

Either way of getting your license is good, the sooner the better. There are lots of ins and outs. The academy route gives you a college degree and if you want to go shoreside eventually, that really is a big thing.

[imconfused]

These videos are a life saver. If these scholarship essays don’t pay off catch me at the SIU program :)

[Burgandy]

Thanks for the help! Im 30 and i just now wana work in maritime

[geraldblaney]

thanks, this system is finally sort of making sense to me.

[michaelmurray]

I headed there Saturday bro I needed to hear this

[denysnov]

In Canada it’s a 3 year course ( 6 semesters ) with 12 months of Sea time, and it costs around 20K total Canadian and most of that money comes from residence, tuition is not expensive. Also being an AB is hard especially for 6 years before you can even take the tests to become a third mate which are also hard.

[tef]

it's worth going to the us merchant marine academy, which is free. the other academies i'm not so sure of if you want to go into the maritime field. hawsepiping it seems like the better option, but i heard as an unlicensed deck guy you're pretty much the ship janitor.

[hengineer]

As a Cal Maritime Grad, I concur with much of what you've said. I graduated in '05, spent roughly $45K (my parents contributed a bit, too, they setup a trust fund for me). That being said, I paid back my loan in 6 months on my first ship. I say 6 months, as I sailed MSC. MSC is a great option in the beginning as you can really rack up sea time in MSC (MSC doesn't try and limit personnel on ships the way commercial companies do).

At least on the Engineering side, one difference between Maritime Academies and Hawsepiping, Hawsepiping gets you experience, but Academies are supposed to get you an education on the underlying theory of what you're doing, so transitioning to a new platform you haven't seen before is less of an issue. While Hawsepiping is really only effective at gaining you experience in what you've sailed before.

Also, having been there, I can respect hawsepipers, as they worked many of those positions they're asking the unlicensed to do in terms of tasks and jobs.

[thechillspot]

Yeah u broke this down dmn good my man

[Tricksterstix]

Can i use my 360 days from my 25gt masters for ab sea days or do the sea days have to be on an unlimited ship

[yawaramon]

Thank you for all this info keep going man I like your emption blessed.

[roythousand]

I didn't know this before, but Seattle and California have their own maritime academies.

[lecheromartinez]

Bro you are a life saver, i Applied for SIU last night, if your ever in the Tacoma Area i would definitely buy u a drink!!!

[IkeSpeaksUp]

The reality is, when it comes to school, you may take out all of thee loans and then STILL drop out because of any sort of situation and be stuck with the loans, or you may graduate when the economy is in a recession and have to work as an AB anyway. It's a lot more risky to take on debt that people think.

[justinmorgan]

Any opinions on the 3rd option, MITAGS? They aren't an academy, they're an apprenticeship like SIU that allows you to skip the unlicensed jobs and go straight to being a 3rd officer, just like an academy.

[stevennwachukwu]

Can you tell what the requirements to joining the SIU program are for international students?

[elenamariazaitzeva]

What is the acceptance rate or process length of getting into and going to SIU? Are there a lot of people they don’t have space for or don’t get through the process?

[rosjay_]

In the end, you will still be a grunt chipping rust and mixing paint while the guys watching from the wheel house are academy grads, you cant get your time and study for a 3 2 l or masrters license unless the hrs are working the job, ( like 3rd mate) some adamy class room time counts as sea time, 3rd mates take an everage of 10 yrs to reach Master, try it with SIU and it would be closer to 16- 17 yrs (thats for say a😮 500 ton Master) if you want a true unlimited weight, all oceans, Captains lisence, you will 99% of the time need a 4yr at an academy degree, and no part of wiping or chipping/ painting will be on that test.working on a ship and commanding a ship are 2 very different paths, start out right if want command.

[fashionstreet]

Awesome video are you required to go through the siu apprenticeship program or can you go directly into maritime with your credentials?