re: Tankerman Career Questions

I worked for SGS, but not as a tankerman. However I worked with tankermen all the time, so here goes -

This is not a typical job for college grads. It really has no upward career mobility. You basically monitor the loading and discharge of barges, operating the pump engine, compartment valving and for toxic cargos, the air return lines. A cargo transfer operations typically takes from six to twenty hours per barge and you may be responsible for multiple barges transferring at the same time.

You are also responsible for safety and environmental monitoring. Which means carrying big fire extinguishers to the barge dock.

The hours are tough as this work goes on 24-7. So you can forget about weekends, holidays, anniversaries, etc. You are also exposed to the weather as you may not leave the uncovered barge deck during cargo transfer operations.

If you travel with a tow, you will be living on the boat for weeks at a time and tow crews are not the most convivial company around.

If you want to get into oil and gas with a college degree, keep applying for office jobs in the sector, look at becoming a landman (handling royalties) or if you're hooked on working on the River, get a job as a petroleum inspector. SGS also hires inspectors and has offices everywhere. But whatever you do, don't pay $12k for any school. The big towing companies will train you OTJ and you can later study the USCG materials to take the test.