Hello from Bulgaria

[TytusPulo]

Greetings to all, I'm new in this forum and id'like to introduce myself. My name is Ivan Mihov and I'm studying navigation in the Bulgarian Naval Academy "Nikola Vapcarov" . When I graduate my desire is to find a job on a cruise ship, but I've heard its quite difficult, I know it's easier to start working on a tanker or bulk carrier as a third officer and I'd be very thankful if anyone tells me what's the real situation because i've heard a lot of different contradictory opinions. Someone told me on such ships it's hard to get a job on the bridge for people from eastern Europe, other say that working on a passenger ship is much harder than working on a merchant vessel, other say that it is required a few years experience to sign such a contract, so I'd be very pleased to hear opinions from the members of this community

[viking69]

hi and welcome to the forum.
I work on the bulk carriers here in australia and i can tell you there is heaps of work here. in our company we have many mates from india and other countries and many engineers from ukraine. I would sugest when you are about to finish your studies you forward your resume to as many companies as possible. a few i recomend you try if you are interested in coming here are CSL International, INCO, TK, P&O. that would give you some idea of what to expect. just do a search on the internet to find there contact details. And the mates on our boats do not work hard at all.

[henryk]

Hi Tytus ! welcome to the board !
First i think you are in the wrong place This site is for people who pay big bucks to be at sea and put up with the misery . You should frequent sites that are dedicated to merchant fleets.
Regards , Henryk

[TytusPulo]

Thank you for the quick replies, but i think I've not expressed myself very well. I wanted to say that most of the people that graduate my academy sail on bulks or tankers, or other cargo vessels, BUT I would rather make my career on passenger(cruise) ships, that's why I registered in this forum. So I'd like to know is it much more difficult to get a job on a cruise than on a merchant ship, and what are the special requirements for the officers on passenger ships(that are not needed on cargo vessels)?

[David M]

Ivan,
I have to respectfully disagree with HenryK. You are in one of the right places. This forum has a few current and retired merchant marine officers from a number of different countries. You are most welcome here. Of course there are other forums on the internet relating to your questions as well as this one. I agree with viking69 in that you have to get your resume out there upon graduation from the academy. I am a licensed Third Mate myself from Cal Maritime class of 1986.

Never become discouraged. There are merchant marine officer jobs out there. You may have to start out as an AB but once you are in the door, you will eventually advance to a Mate if you are doing a good job for the company.

A little story relating to that. A woman who graduated two classes ahead of me as a Third Mate was working as an AB as the forward lookout on the Exxon Valdez when it ran aground! Can you imagine what she experienced?!

I wish you the best in your career.

David

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Ivan,
Welcome aboard! It is good to have you here and you are getting good advice. Most of us cruisers are on our own private boats and don't hire crew but there are lots of us with many years of merchant and navy experience who can help.
Kind regards,
JohnL