A recent issue of the Ship Jack, the newspaper of the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship, posed the following question: "What is a quarter mile long and carries as much as a thirty-five-mile convoy of trucks...or as much as twelve 100-ton jumbo railroad cars or as much as sixty 25-ton semitrailers?" The answer: A tow of fifteen barges! As this country has become more conscious of the need to conserve energy, water transportation continues to be recognized as extremely efficient. It is for this and other reasons that the domestic shipping industry should experience expansion.
Presently, some 15 percent of America's total transportation moves on its inland waters; 4 percent moves on the Great Lakes (Duluth is the nation's number-one port by tonnage); and 5 percent moves along the coastal ocean routes. During the early part of the twenty-first century, river traffic is expected to increase, Great Lakes traffic is expected to increase, and coastal waters traffic will experience significant growth.
Most freight on the inland waterways moves by unmanned, non-self-propelled barges having drafts of six to fourteen feet. The minimum depth of navigable waterway is nine feet harbor; channels are maintained at forty feet by the Army Corps of Engineers. Part of our inland commerce also takes place on shallow, self-propelled vessels and tankers. That is, either a tug pulls them or a towboat pushed them. Occasionally a tug will push the barges or carry them alongside.
Barges transport both dry and liquid cargo over the more than twenty-five thousand miles of America's inland ways. Barge sizes range from five hundred to three thousand tons; however, some oceangoing barges have a capacity of more than thirty thousand tons. The cargoes particularly appropriate to this mode of transportation are raw commodities: petroleum products, chemicals, grains, forest products, and iron and steel.
Increasing demand for water transportation has stimulated the improvement of the waterways, equipment, and technology. Consequently, barge service is safe and reliable. Origin-to-destination speed averages six miles per hour with some tows making fifteen miles per hour. Towboats and barges are under construction and skilled workers are needed to work on them.
The attraction of this profession can best be summarized in the words of Charlie Piot. A Princeton graduate, Charlie was drawn not by the financial opportunity of the river, but by his personal interest in it.
I came to the river two years ago, just out of college. I wanted to wear a new shirt for awhile, to see things from a different angle. The pattern of my life has been all too much the same-my childhood in the suburbs, my high school years in a private school, and my college years in an eastern university. It was all too narrow and too simple-a well-lubricated rail that, once hitched up to, I could quite easily follow for the rest of my earthly life and never see another side.
So I sought out work on the boats. I often wondered what life was like on those sooty barge tows I'd seen creeping past the St. Louis waterfront. What was the work like? And the men who work with their hands and their bodies to make a living-what were they like? And the river-the one we've all vicariously experienced through Twain--what was its mystique?
I petitioned the offices of several barge lines and landed a job as a deckhand on a towboat that runs the lower Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans.
Charlie found the work rigorous and life on the river rewarding; he expanded his original plan of working six months to two years.
Skill, ability, experience, endurance, and a feel for the river are the prime requirements necessary for success in towing.
Personnel
In the towing industry, the deckhand serves as a jack of all trades. This position varies widely with the nature and the size of the cargo and towboat. On large riverboats, the deckhand ties together the many barges into unit tows and breaks them apart upon reaching the destination. On harbor tugs, the responsibility for tying the large ships to the tug falls to this person. Deckhands usually work a schedule of six hours on, six hours off. Boatmen usually spend a specified number of days on and off their jobs each month; twenty days on, ten days off is one common arrangement. This type of work schedule combined with the rigorous and sometimes dangerous nature of the work constitutes a lifestyle that is not for everyone.
One of the most important positions in the industry is that of tanker man. The movement of millions of barrels of petroleum and other liquid cargoes each year has made this a critical and rapidly expanding job. The tanker man has the responsibility for cleanly and safely loading and unloading the cargo. Once under way, the tanker man maintains close surveillance of the liquid, checking pumps and engines. Some persons in this position also work in harbors, refueling ocean ships from bunker barges. Knowledge of and adherence to environmental protection standards is important in this job. The handling of hazardous cargo also requires Coast Guard licensing. This regulation, now under study, will probably become more stringent.
In general, towboats have two operators--the captain or master and the pilot or mate, who serves as the captain's assistant. When under way, the operators each stand two six-hour watches per day. The responsibility for the safe navigation of the vessel falls to them. While on watch they steer the vessel, monitor the radio and radar sets, and fill out the log. The master works aboard oceangoing tugs; pilots often work on harbor tugs. Aboard towing vessels operating on longer routes, a captain, first mate, and second mate are required. They stand two four-hour watches per day. Boats working the western rivers and inland waterways of the Gulf of Mexico employ a steersman. This person, usually in training to become a mate or pilot, steers the vessel. On some of the larger boats an engineer maintains the engine room. Deckhands often perform this function on smaller boats. The towboat cook has the responsibility of serving and preparing all meals for the crew; this includes four meals a day and coffee around the clock. On small boats, deckhands take turns doing the cooking.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship and a number of regional schools offer education and training programs. SHLSS Inland and Near Coastal programs have courses such as Rules of the Road, Ship handling and Seamanship, Cargo Handling II and others.
Continued slow expansion of the industry has created a concern that sufficient personnel will not be available to staff its expanding positions. In fact, Waterways Journal, the industry's magazine, has predicted an increase in personnel. Presently, more than fifty thousand people work aboard inland boats and barges, and a similar number find employment in shore activities related to inland shipping. The increasing cost and complexity of barges, tugs, and towboats make the acquisition of specific skills particularly important to persons interested in this career area.
In a different vein, the American Sailing Training Association located in Newport, Rhode Island, takes as its mission, 'To provide people from all walks of life with the opportunity to experience seafaring aboard a vessel under sail."
As vessels vary greatly, so do careers afloat; all contribute to an enjoyable, rewarding lifestyle.
See the following articles for more information:
- Find Your Calling: A Checklist
- 5 Ways To Build Your Career Outside of the Office
- How To Impress Your Interviewer When Making a Career Change
- 5 Tips For Successful Networking
