Imagine for a moment your 7-year-old son or nephew is working as a “cabin boy” on a ship. He’d be away from home for years slogging food and dirty dishes 16 hours a day, seven days a week, between the galley and the mess deck. And when not working in the galley, picture him climbing up 200-foot masts to help raise the halyards. If he’s too small to work as a cabin boy, he might be a “powder monkey” — so named because of one’s ability to squeeze into cramped spaces below deck where dangerous items such as ammunition and gunpowder were stowed — possibly losing his life supplying the crew manning the cannons when the ship was under attack.
Children suffered horribly doing this work for hundreds of years, up until the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided something had to be done about the “long hours and starvation wages” working children endured. Despite opposition from the Supreme Court, Roosevelt signed the the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on June 25, 1938. For the first time in U.S. history, the federal government banned all forms of oppressive child labor, including the longstanding practice of young children working on ships.
Only six years later, on May 17, 1944, the U.S. Maritime Service made an emergency wartime proclamation. After successfully completing a six-week training to work in the galley, or a 13-week course for the engine room or on deck, 16-year-old boys could sail on U.S.-flag merchant ships with their parents’ consent. Eighty years hence, 16-year-old boys (and now also girls) are working on all types of merchant vessels — this, even though the FLSA of 1938’s 18-year-old-minimum-age requirement still applies to many other industries.
It is even easier for 16-year-olds to sail as credentialed crewmembers on U.S.-flag commercial vessels because they don’t need to complete any kind of training beforehand. After paying $125.25 and obtaining a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), getting a signed/notarized consent from a parent or guardian; passing a drug test in accordance with CG-719P, and receiving a Medical Certificate certifying that they meet the minimum physical requirements for entry-level mariners listed in CG-719KE, young people can be issued a new merchant mariner credential (MMC). With a credential in hand, they are legally allowed to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, as crewmembers in the engine room, on deck or in the galley on hundreds of U.S.-flag vessels plying inland and offshore waters for weeks or months. In addition, if they complete an approved STCW (International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Basic Training class (usually five days) and have a current passport, they can sail on oceangoing commercial ships worldwide.
Recognizing the need for their crew members to have maturity and commitment, many maritime employers choose not to hire children 16 years of age. The Military Sealift Command, which operates 125 vessels in support of our military, mandates that all its shipboard employees be at least 18 years old. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration requires crewmembers on its fleet of 15 vessels be at least 18. The U.S.-flagged cruise-ship company American Cruise Lines, which operates 19 ships throughout the country, also has an 18-year-old minimum age requirement. These are just three of the top-notch U.S. maritime employers that choose not to hire 16-year-olds — even if they are U.S. Coast Guard certified. Unfortunately, there are a number U.S.-flag companies that do hire youths that age.
I can’t even imagine being at sea with one or more 16-year-old youngsters (you’ll notice that I didn’t say men or women) in the crew. During a fire, in a hurricane or when dealing with any number of other horrendous circumstances ships can face, we mariners have to depend on each other. Would you want to place your life, and the fate of the vessel, in the hands of a 16-year-old? Is it even conscionable to put an adolescent in that untenable situation? In my opinion, the answer is an emphatic no.
If a young man or woman is really interested in a career at sea, there are numerous ways to find out if the profession is a good fit. They can join the Sea Scouts when they are 14. And when they’re 16, they can attend one of nearly 50 high schools nationwide offering a maritime curriculum for interested students. That way, they’ll be able to enjoy more of the precious time they have left of their teenage years, earn a high school diploma and get an idea of what it’s like being a mariner. And if they’re still interested, they can become certified when they turn 18.
Why haven’t the tenets of an 80-year-old emergency proclamation, one that puts our children at risk, been repealed? By issuing 16-year-old boys and girls their MMC, the Coast Guard is formally certifying that someone who is not even legally an adult can work on a commercial vessel — considered to be one of the most dangerous professions in the world. From my perspective as a career merchant mariner, I have to ask, “Since the Coast Guard prohibits 16-year-olds from sailing on any of its 250 vessels, why is it okay for them to work on ours?”
Till next time, I wish you all smooth sailin.’ •
Capt. Kelly Sweeney holds the license of master (oceans, any gross tons) and has held a master of towing vessels (oceans) license, as well. He has sailed on more than 40 commercial vessels and lives on an island near Seattle. He can be contacted by email at captsweeney@outlook.com