Traveling and working on a Cargo Ship

Back in the day, it was possible to hop a cargo ship and pay your way with menial labour. Those days are long since gone. Not only do you need a few maritime certificates, but more often than not you also need to be a union member. The union fees alone will be more than the cost of a flight. But the other certs could equal several thousand dollars.

A few cargo companies do take "passengers", but this again is more expensive than a flight and even more than a luxury cruise. Cargo travel is dead.

I wouldn't say cargo travel is dead - at least not completely, there are still opportunities out there but they are very, very rare - and indeed not cheap. Certainly there's no opportunity for someone to rock up and get a job as a deck-hand to pay passage. That kind of thing is, indeed, dead. The only option would be to try and get passage with a yacht - there there are still some possibilities but probably crossing the Pacific is not the best idea for a novice sailor it is a long, arduous, journey.

hi,

thank you for the reply.
I been asking a lot of my friends here at the college and a lot of things have change.

Is there anything that you can recommend?

thanks

hi

Yacht? How would i research that?

For me, you are right, at the moment I am a novice. My time frame is to go around this December. I'm looking into this right now in order to do whatever it takes. that includes getting some experience, at least a couple of months under my belt. I live here it Tampa Florida and I am going to be sending out a letter to the Tampa port Authority and see what they recommend.

Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks

You could start off by going on the Ocean branch of this forum, you'll find some suggestion for websites where you can see about finding crossing on a yacht - and even some more info on cargo-ship travel.

Your chances of finding a passage to a specific destination on more or less specific dates (to suit your semester in China) are slim and none with slim being in the infintesimal range.

Assuming a cargo ship was sailing to China from California, you with no experience and no 'tickets' (qualifications) would stand no chance over experienced crew. I am quite sure there will be more than enough of them looking for work on any ship going anywhere.

I was a licensed skipper with years of experience sailing on yachts and would not expect to be able to get a berth to China (relatively very few yachts go there) in December. Crewing as a way of travel never works to your schedule, you must adapt to the boat's schedule. That's one of the major factors that make it an unlikely option for travellers wanting to go from A to B.

To answer your initial question then, there is a better way. Buy a ticket and fly.

December would be pretty rough out there.

hi

thanks,

hi

I understand my chances are a long shot.

But the good news is I'm not starting out at the last moment.

I gotta to look at the sunshine.

I have 3 months to take a shot. I gotta to take that chance of enjoying one more breath on mother earth.

it's worth getting up and reaching out for it.

josé