Opportunities for students of nautical schools in Spain

[Ferrol]

Is there any possibility of reaching a position of cadet trainees on board any American shipping?
I just graduated as a Diploma in E.T.S. Nautical and Naval Engineering La Coruna, Spain, and would be interested in serving on board foreign flag, with personal goals:
1st. Training for use of mate in the merchant marine
2nd. Improve my oral expression in English
3rd. Having the opportunity to promote long-term U.S. flag vessels

I would appreciate comments on this issue and if there is the possibility of professional practices in U.S. flag vessels, communicated to me through this forum or my email address "seafarer@hotmail.es"

Thanks for your attention: Jorge Lopez
PD: In Spain we use the expression "salud y buena proa!" ( literally "health and good bow!") among people engaged in maritime work, so ... "salud y buena proa!" to all the American merchant marine brothers!!

[Ordinaryseaman]

Jorge- hola y bienvenidos a Gcaptain!

To answer your question- I don't think so. There's a law known as the Jones Act which prevents this. I believe Spain has similar cabotage laws- which are designed to protect jobs and commerce in their home countries.

In general- you must be a US citizen to sail aboard a US flagged ship.

However- if you merely wish to sail to to the US as a cadet- you might check into the Cruise Lines- Carnival, NCL,Disney, Royal Caribbean, et cetera. They are foreign flagged and staffed by a primarily international crew. I've seen cadet position open- mainly with Carnival and NCL.

The others use staffing agencies (including www.vmanpower.com) to staff their ships- and I'm ignorant of the specifics. You'll have to check through their websites.

The exception to this is NCL- you can apply for their foreign flagged positions at the bottom of their website- www.ncl.com. Note that "NCL America" is US flagged- and wont be able to help.

Most of the NCL ships that come to America sail out of Miami- but they also go to-


Charleston South Carolina
Port Canaveral/Orlando
Key West
New Orleans


New York
Boston
(and a few smaller North East cities)

San Francisco
Los Angeles
Astoria Oregon
Seattle Washington

and Southeast Alaska..

Some of the other cruise lines have additional ports- but that is most of them...

How is the maritime Job Market in Spain?


Smooth sailing-Anthony

[Ferrol]

Thanks for your advice, I will use my best these links to test the job market in your country. It will certainly be more difficult than I think, but I will spare no effort in getting to a place that allows me to achieve my goals.

[Ferrol]

Hi Ordinaryseaman...

In answer to your question "How is the maritime Job Market in Spain?" I must say that today the maritime Job Market in Spain is in a difficult situation due to lower traffic generated by the economically-financial crisis...
Unemployment is troubling at segment between Spanish nationality Officers, and cadets enroll options in national-flagged vessels are almost nonexistent unless this cadet have "contacts" (Here we say "plug" or "godfather").

In addition to this the Government and unions have reached an agreement that allows employers whose sectors have little demand among Spanish and the rest of the European Union citizens hiring employees arrivals from non-EU countries(lower-paid). This what is called "Occupations difficult to fill". Of course, Merchant Navy is one of these occupations, despite the high number of Spanish experienced officers unemployed and the number of students completing each year their Nautical Studies...

This picture is very dark and hopeless for people of the trade union.It is very surprising that a state supposed "socialist" to protect their workers less than the supposed state "capitalist" par excellence, congratulations for having a good representation!

Thanks again for your advice.

[mike173]

Tyco has 2 Spanish-crewed cable ships. All officers are Spanish. The Tyco Resolute and the Teneo. Marshall Islands flag. Their office is in Madrid.