<p>Our son will be going off to sea soon. Does the shipping company pay him by check, direct deposit into his bank account, or in cash? We are trying to decide on how much cash to give him before he leaves.</p>
<p>All of the above: check vs direct deposit depends on the shipping company. He will also be given the opportunity to tell them how much cash he wants out of that check before he is paid. There will also be draws prior to most port visits where they can draw cash from the Captain against their pay check. </p>
<p>I would make sure he has enough money to pay for a few cabs and a few meals, basically enough to get him to the ship and possibly an extra day or two. At most I would suggest a couple hundred dollars and that’s only if he doesn’t have a credit card (if he does then don’t even need that much). He really doesn’t need any cash once he’s reported aboard.</p>
<p>for a direct deposit allotment he may need a check that he can void and give to the Captain along with a company direct deposit form. If the account is joint he will need to get a signature on the form of the other party on the account. That’s the way it is with my company. I would imagine it’s about the same at other companies. At the very least he will need the routing and account numbers to do a direct deposit. The limit on allotments is 80% of base wage, which in a cadets case is $356 every two weeks. Also the limit on draws is 80% of net earned wages (the amount less taxes, previous draws, slops, allotments, etc.). Regardless of whether he has a credit card or not I would still make sure he has couple of hundred dollars “walk around” money before he joins his ship.</p>
<p>I believe that the travel information packet from the academy suggests that every midshipman have at least $300 in cash, in addition to a credit card, for transportation to their ship. Make sure that they save all transportation receipts so that they can be reimbursed for travel fees when they return to school at the end of the sea period.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information everyone!</p>
<p>We sent our son off with $300.00 cash plus his debit card. It has been 2 weeks. Haven’t heard anything yet(no news is good news). Should be in port today. Will ask him what he needs if he ever calls.</p>
<p>What route is he on? Our guy will be going to the Middle East and India.</p>
<p>He is on the Ocean Titan. Left Wilmington N.C 2 weeks ago. Went through the Panama Canal and up the west cost. I followed his Ship (SailWX.info/Ship tracker). He is now in Seattle Washington.</p>
<p>The Maersk Georgia is our ship. It leaves August 1st. Does that web site track every ship or just his ship?</p>
<p>sailwx is great for map… but our son’s Maersk ship generally didn’t update sailwx about 1 day before port/1 day after leaving port… Don’t know if it was ship, or corporate policy.</p>
<p>Maersk schedules are also available using:
[Maersk</a> Line shipping containers worldwide](<a href=“http://www.maerskline.com/]Maersk”>http://www.maerskline.com/)
Fill in ship in Search Vessel Schedule (lower/right)… “Maersk Georgia” is what you’d use.</p>
<p>Since schedules are flexible (weather, threats, company rerouting discretion, etc), I found that these are kept quite up-to-date. What you print out today CAN be quite different in 2 weeks time. Times in it were very helpful.</p>
<p>As note Sailwx is great to track a ship as it is on it’s transit. The wx is for weather and vessels do weather reports generally at least once a day and as often as once every six hours or when certain conditions change. However as also noted once the vessel is within six or so hours of landfall they stop the reports (I forget the exact guideline) but its basically because there are other things that automatically capture, log and transmit the data (bouys, etc.). Fortunately for us, our son is on a ship that seems to be reporting weather data every six hours. A couple of other things by way of explanation as to the info reported when you scroll down:</p>
<p>Assuming date/time and lat (latitude) and lon (longitude) are not needing an explanation;
naut miles run is the distance since the last report the vessel traveled
SOA is speed of Advance/Approach the vessel averaged since last report in knots
wind from is the direction the wind is out of in degrees i.e. 000 is North, 090 is east; etc.
wind speed is in knots
barometer is barometric pressure in millibars
wave height is in meters e.g 1.0 = 3.3 feet…
air temp, dew point and water temp are in degrees celcius to convert to farenheit multiply by 1.8 and add 32…</p>
<p>My son will be on the Mearsk Georgia as well. Son was worried about getting back in time to start 2nd Trimester and I see it is scheduled to return to Newark, NJ on November 2nd. Maybe he can get a week at home before getting back in the classroom :)</p>
<p>According to the Sea Guide–each cadet needs to go to see with at least three hundred dollars. Mine also had a credit card for emergencies.</p>
<p>Another website to check is [Live</a> Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions](<a href=“http://www.marinetraffic.com%5DLive”>http://www.marinetraffic.com) . All ships have an AIS, which sends out data to other ships. This website receives data from AIS receivers all around the world, so when the ship is in range of one of their receivers, it will be displayed. You can watch the ships in almost real time in most ports of the US, and most of the Mediterranean is covered as well.</p>
<p>Thought I’d jump in, just in case anyone has information on it our DS is now on the Alliance New York headed to the MidEast. Heard from him once on their way to Beaumont, TX before heading east.</p>
<p>I thought I would post and tell everyone the great communication that we have had from our Mid onboard. </p>
<p>The first engineer has recently put something on the computer in the engine room that allows a person to make phone calls. I do not know if it is the “magic jack” or something else. Connection is slower than dialup, but our Mid has called more than once on a daily basis. In addition he sends and receives emails though a gmail account and has IM with me through facebook more than once. Friday night he IM with me for over an hour and a half. He does drop out now and then.</p>
<p>His Sunday schedule was to work on his sea project most of the day and then went to bed for 6.5 hours, got up for an hour and IM with us and girlfried back home and then went back to bed. On Saturday we helped clean out a water-oil seperator sump. He was put into it after it was drained with a hazmat suit on and got to wipe it out. He said he actually enjoyed it. 
Also mentioned that the engine room is now warmer in the Med. Son was very happy when the first engineer gave him a Maersk Coverall to use and keep and has 3rd Engineer on it. He said that he really likes everyone and they are constantly cutting up with each other. LOL</p>
<p>Other interesting item was that a steward currently on Maersk Georgia was on the Maersk Alabama when attacked by pirates in April. I am sure that I will hear some stories in the coming months.</p>
<p>Ship has shown up now and then on the above trackers mentioned. Currently sailing past Italy and will be to Suez on Wednesday. Then on to Dubai, Pakistan and India. Then they turn back for New York and do it again.</p>
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<p>Interesting… I’m surprised Maersk policy would permit something like that… Especially a device that, while installed on a company computer, looks like it clearly circumvents the ships communication system. If that 1 A/E was working for my company he would probably be packing his gear and heading down the gangway. His actions would be cause for dismissal.
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<p>Further…
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<p>If the use of that magic jack isnt authorized, Id keep it under my hat and wouldnt be posting information about it on a public forum.
Enjoy it while it lasts.</p>
<p>I received in the mail the other day my sons first sea pay. I am depositing it in his NFCU account today. He is still out at sea, but will be able to retrieve money with his debit card.</p>
<p>Did you set up this paysystem before he/she left or was it done on the ship?</p>
<p>"Hello DS:
Sorry we have not heard from you.
However, the check from the shipping company arrived yesterday.
I have deposited it into our account.
If you have other instructions, email us.</p>
<h2>Love—Your Parents 
;)"</h2>
<p>Ok, I didn’t really send this… But I WANTED to:):) hahahhaa.
(We put the check in his NFCU account straight away.)</p>