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Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA)
April 22, 2002
Rachel Raskin-Zrihen, Times-Herald staff writer If you've ever considered chucking it all and running away to sea, forget it, said Merchant Marine Capt. Vincent Backen, president of the new Seamen's' Training Center on Mare Island. Since Feb. 2, ships' captains require certifications for skills that for time immemorial have been learned on the job.Backen, a Vallejo native now living in Benicia, has put together what he believes is the first training facility of its kind, to prepare "rank and file" sailors in a three-week course."We are the newest and the first training ship for training just entry level seamen -- not mates or licensed engineers," Backen said. "I developed it because the U.S. signed onto a treaty with the United Nations in 1995, that set standards for seafarers which came into full force this past February 2."The new requirements will benefit the industry in the long run, Backen said, because statistics show that most accidental injuries and deaths at sea happen to the youngest and least experienced seamen.A spokesperson for the across-town California Maritime Academy, however, expressed doubt that novice sailors can learn enough in three weeks.Backen, who ran away to sea at 14 and survived to work his way up the ranks to captain, said the idea for some sort of sailor's training school has been floating around in his head for several years."I've been thinking about this over the years," Backen said, "as I trained people at sea. I thought 'there has to be a school for this,' but there wasn't."Backen worked as a Merchant Marine for 18 years, until February, when he quit to start this enterprise.The Seamen's Training Center offers its 3-week course on board the White Holly, a Coast Guard Buoy/Cargo Tender -- a ship with an interesting past, Backen said."It was built in Napa and Christened on D-Day. It's been all over the world, and now it's back on the Napa River," said Backen, who sold his house to buy the ship.This might worry some people, but not Backen. He knows this is going to fly -- or sail, as the case may be."There is a great need to get people trained," he said. "There is a recent Chronicle article about the critical shortage of seamen. And I know it'll work, because I did the same thing as a teen. I didn't go to college, I had a single mother, grew up in a bad neighborhood, and I know it'll work because I did it."Backen said that Seamen's Training Center students will graduate with the skills needed for work on fishing vessels, tankers, container ships, general cargo ships, military sealift command ships, cruise ships, and research vessels, as well as offshore supply vessels, tug boats and barges. Salaries start at about $27,500 per year plus benefits, he added.Backen said his students won't be the same ones who attend Vallejo's California Maritime Academy (CMA), whose students graduate as licensed officers. His students will be those who, for whatever reason, can't or won't be going to college, yet want to work at sea. Besides, Backen said, sailors can earn a living while working their way up the ranks in as few as the four years college takes. And college costs a lot more, Backen said.George Condon, executive assistant to CMA's president, said the concept of training sailors is not new, that he knows of programs affiliated with colleges and unions, though he does acknowledge a need for trained personnel. And while he said he was "not criticizing or passing judgment" on Backen's program, he wonders how much can be absorbed in three weeks."There have been various articles in the press about the shortage of seagoing personnel generally," Condon said. "That is true. Nobody's disputing that. But three weeks' training is definitely minimal for anyone intending to work on a vessel in any capacity."Backen's program includes hands-on courses with seasoned mariners in departments, he said. The $5,000 cost of the full program is paid in installments -- with a $1,500 down payment and the rest taken from earnings from the jobs Backen says his graduates can certainly find upon completion of the program.The center offers accommodations aboard a fully operational vessel, job placement and career placement services, besides the instruction and working cruises."One of our classes, in June, we're going to take 12 students from Houston, down through the Panama Canal, and up the Pacific Coast back here," Backen said.The center's mission statement is to "be a catalyst for bringing together communities needing an outlet for career-oriented men and women, and industry that is looking for professionally trained seamen and oilers," Backen said.A non-profit corporation, the Seamen's Training Center officially opens for business May 6, and Backen is positive the idea will thrive."I'm sure this is going to catch on and that every port in America will have one eventually," Backen said. "It'll embarrass the industry that they didn't think of it before. That's what I think will happen."For more information, call 746-5762.E-mail Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at RachelZ@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6824.
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