From the MM&P Hiring Hall 03
Jacob Gross, 37 tanker man. Sailing since he was 18
At the MM&P hiring hall. Oakland, California
I graduated from Cal Maritime in 2018, before that I was in the Navy since I was 18, so I’ve been on the water since I was 18.
It’s different than it used to be. When I started sailing there was no internet, you couldn’t even call home. There was a phone, but it was like a one minute delay, so you’d say something, then 30 seconds to a minute later you’d hear something back. It wasn’t worth calling. But now there’s Starlink, it’s different, you feel more connected.
I used to enjoy that disconnection. I’d set my bill up, and just leave. But that was before I had kids, and a wife, so …
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I don’t live here, I live in South Africa. I grew up here in the Bay Area but I married a South African Afrikaans girl and so we live there.
I come here for about a week, I visit my parents, I come to the hall a couple of times, and then I usually have a job.
Instead of waiting for those ships that everybody wants (containers), and competing with everybody in the Los Angeles and Oakland halls, I don’t have to do that.
This union does not have a lot of qualified tanker-men, so there’s not a big pool of people to relieve you. The only reason I’m taking it (this job that came up) is as a favor to the company, and they already have somebody to relieve me. They’re just waiting for that person’s paperwork to get processed by the Coast Guard, so I know in 60 days I’ll be off.
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You have to be careful (on a tanker), there’s a big blowout in a pipeline or something, a spill oil into the water, then it could be your license. You’re gonna have to defend yourself. That’s always a worry, so you want to be on ships that have good equipment.
In the US fleet [tankers are in poorer conditions than box ships], globally not so.
[In] the US fleet there’s this business model that the companies follow, especially [with] these government contracts (MSC) - They buy an old ship, 10-12 years old, tankers are really only allowed to operate for 20 years, so shipping companies will have a ship, they have big services due, and they decide, let’s lease it out for the rest of its life instead of running it ourselves. These MSC (Military Sealift Command) contracts are guaranteed - 5 year, high paying contracts - so they get a crappy old ship and they run it to the end of its life at a pretty good rate - a cheap rate because it’s an older ship - and then they do it again.
If it was a domestic oil tanker the best contract they would probably get to move oil is probably a year when it’s (the tanker) over 12 years old. But the US government hands out 5 year contracts, at high rates, so they buy [old ships].
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I try and just do 90 days [at sea], but it always ends up more, but in general I try and keep it to 6 months out of the year.
With some struggles [I’ve made it work with my family]. With my son, he’s 12, and he’s used to it at this point. But it’s differently not the easiest job, with a family. The internet does help with that, I talk to them everyday, never used to be able to do that. It helps.
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You know there’s a lot of routine, and if you have a story it’s probably something bad happened. I find the routine of it, nothing crazy happening, that’s how it usually is. If you have some stories it usually means something happened.
So, I don’t have a lot to talk about when … [I get home]. My wife gives me crap about it because my son doesn’t really know what I do, right? You can explain it but he’s never seen me at work.
It’s interesting, it goes way back this idea of the sailor, the image of the sailor. The image is you’re out on the town, you’re drinking, having a good time. Nobody sees sailors at work. So, there’s this kind of mystery. They see the carpenters, plumbers working, they never see the sailor working.
My son is the same way. Even though I tell him stuff about work, but it’s such a mystery.
Jacob Gross, 3rd Mate, tanker man
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Photo: Robert Gumpert 31 October 2025