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Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA)
October 3, 2003
MARYANN MASLAN, Times-Herald staff writer Capt. Vincent Backen may be saving an endangered species - the hawsepipe - and a piece of history with his Seaman's Training Center on Mare Island. Traditionally, hawsepipes were men who wanted to go to sea and joined a ship's crew, taking the lowest jobs and working their way up, Backen said."The hawsepipes are becoming extinct," Backen said. Today, "with all the new international regulations, you have to show experience to get a job."Backen, who was a hawsepipe, started doing laundry aboard a ship and worked his way up to a career pilot of "world class ships." He wants to give others the experience and "a chance for a nobody to get somewhere."He sold his Benicia home last year to purchase the White Holly, a Mare Island freighter built in Napa and christened at the shipyard on June 6, 1946. The historic 133-foot-long ship is docked at Berth 6 on Mare Island.The ship is the hands-on classroom for those who want to become merchant marines or advance their career in the maritime industry.Qualifications for the training program are the same as for the Merchant Marine, which include being at least 18, a U.S. citizen and physically fit.The training center offers a four-week course for 12 students who live and work on-board the ship. Training also includes five days of classes at Vallejo's California Maritime Academy studying the basics with faculty.Unlike CMA, which offers a four-year bachelor's degree in maritime studies including in management, the center offers certificates for entry-level positions."It's real live stuff. We go out and do jobs like buoy repair for the National Marine Sanctuary Farallon Islands and salvage operations," Backen said. "Not all students want to go to an academy, or can afford it."Backen said this is the only training center of its kind in the country."Our goal is to develop an outreach program nationwide," he added.The next class begins Oct. 13 and trainees will come from the East as well as the West Coast.Darren Carter completed training seven months ago and said he has no trouble finding part-time work in the area as an assistant engineer while he looks for a high-paying full-time jobs."I'm thinking about navigation," Carter said. Seaman's Training Center students graduate with skills to work on fishing vessels, tankers, container ships, general cargo ships, military sea lift command ships, cruise ships and research vessels, as well as offshore supply vessels, tug boats and barges, Backen said. Salaries start at about $27,500 per year plus benefits, he said.To date, the organization has trained 37 mariners and has a 90 percent job placement rate, Backen said.The training costs about $5,000 and includes the Merchant Mariner's certificate, pre-employment screening and certificates in First Aid/CPR and Standards of Training Certification and Watch keeping, needed to work on ship.No one is turned away if they have an interest in the field, Backen said. "We will train them for free."The Training Center recently received its federal nonprofit status, which allows the organization to raise money and allows businesses and individuals to make tax deductible contributions, Bracken said.To celebrate the nonprofit status, the White Holly will make two public cruises on Oct. 11 as part of Fleet Week. Ten free passes will be given to anyone interested in a maritime career who submits an essay on that subject. Submit essays to P.O. Box 932, Benicia 94510 or e-mail stcwus@hotmail.com by 5 p.m. Wednesday.For information about the programs or cruises, call Capt. Vince Backen at 552-6053 or see the Web site http://www.seamenstraining.org.- E-mail Maryann Maslan at mmaslan@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6832.
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