re: River Pilots in Louisiana for dummies

We had one NOBRA pilot back in the 90s we regularly saw who was too damn cheap to pay 50 cents for a newspaper. He insisted we give it to him. That's back when they were only making 300k a year or so, poor babies.

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They run the same stretch of river again and again and again. They can do it in their sleep

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How many people can say they can run a 500’ loaded ship up and down the Mississippi River without hitting a refinery in their sleep?

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That fricker climbed the rope ladder all the way to the top rail of the ship when he had a heart attack, fell off, and hit the roof of the crew boat,

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Sounds like a dangerous job for someone that has more responsibility than your job as a deckhand

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Imagine defending an industry with a 4 year degree requirement and a year of on the job training and then justifying their pay, when they make more than most doctors and surgeons do, and they make more take home pay than a lot of doctors and surgeons make pre-tax

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go look at what the degree entails. I’ll bet it’s a lot more than a business or mass com degree from any state school

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read it all...good info...

I am gonna use most of your words but change a few things:
In order to be a BCO offshore, the first step one could take is to attended an maritime academy. There are only 7 in the US. Maine Maritime Academy, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Texas A&M at Galveston, California Maritime Academy, Great Lakes Maritime Academy, SUNY Maritime, and the US Merchant Marine Academy (a federal service academy).
You cannot become a BCO offshore without a 4 year degree from one of those schools. Also in order for you to get a degree from one of those schools you have to go through a rigorous academic course load with Coast Guard requirements, and also pass a 7 test CG exam where most of the tests require a 90% to pass.
but BCOs offshore also have a job that can be dangerous at times and could destroy Louisiana’s ecosystem and potentially shut down the river and the GoM which would have a significant impact on Louisiana’s economy.
Let’s just say that there was a BCO on board and they screwed up and missed an alarm in the shaker house. Now you have a loss of well containment carrying roughly 150,000 tons of oil dumping its cargo into the GoM. Just think about how that would shutdown the river and the GOM and cause devastating damage to the environment.


I could keep doing this but you get the point. A BCO makes 150-200k, and generally flies himself back and forth to the north east because that's where the maritime academies are. I have said for years that La needs a maritime academy, but your lobbyist will never let that happen.

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After you get voted in you do not start making the big bucks. In order to do that, you have to buy into the association. Think of this as doctors or lawyers buying into a practice. It’s basically the same situation.

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No, it’s not at all like that.

Nope. Nola

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You cannot join an association without a 4 year degree from one of those schools.

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This is 100% false. I know two pilots personally and neither one attended any of those schools.

The rest of what you say is pretty accurate, except that I've asked both the pilots I know if an "outsider" can become a pilot and they both said it wouldn't happen bc the guild will protect the spots for their own kids.

No one is arguing it's not an important job, it is, but there isn't a single damn reason it needs to be such an exclusive club that has complete say over who's allowed in and who isn't.

They'd be SOL if the State were to decide it's tired of being fleeced by these guys for more money every year, so it changes the model and these guys are out.

The problem isn't the profession; the problem is the crooked way it's setup and the exorbitant dime they demand.

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it's the combination of these jobs only being allowed to go to family/friends and the salaries that make people upset

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That and the whole response tone of:

“yeah, back in the 70s there was dis boat that go piyyyaaaa. So yeah, it dangerous baw. The end. Questions?”