LNG ship management company of the Angelicoussis Shipping Group: 35 LNG carriers plus an FSRU in operation and further newbuildings on order.
I came in as a serving Third Engineer from LNG, which set my trainee rate at the higher band. Over three contracts I collected five promotion appraisals and two chief engineers pushed to advance me on board; the office answered every time that gas engineers were in surplus, though colleagues from elsewhere in the intake moved up on their second contract. From the first of January 2026 the trainee rate was cut from the old band by close to a third — for everyone — and the new figure surfaces only at contract signing, not before. Instead of the overlap into rank I was offered the reduced rate, declined, and am changing companies. Provisions on board had also gone threadbare. Weigh the nerves against the prospects before you commit.
I joined as gas trainee in 2021 without a Third Engineer''s licence and was offered on-board promotion within three months — I declined only because I had to finish my licence exams. The war cost me two years at home; the company took me back as trainee, I extended to four months at my own request, obtained the working licence, and the next contract came at close to the gas engineer''s pay with an overlap into the rank. Advice from the inside: pull the gas engineer''s duties onto yourself and remind the senior engineers monthly that you want the promotion — it is how the system responds.
The ships run as a closed village: what the senior officers want overrides any written procedure, and diligence is rewarded with more loading, not advancement. Where three third engineers sail together, the one from outside the dominant nationality is assigned the dirty work while the others polish their standing in the control room — and the promotion order follows accordingly; our second engineers in the company can be counted on one hand. The other side of the coin: the gas-engineer stream is a genuine fast lane. When I joined in 2021 the company was taking fitters, reef mechanics and third engineers as gas trainees and moving them into the gas engineer's chair within a contract or two, because the rank was treated as a standalone specialist post. The catch is the same status — treated closer to a pumpman than an officer, and sometimes not trusted with the systems that are formally yours.
There is a shortage of gas engineers, so people are moved up from the ratings — fitters especially. I joined as wiper after a tanker cadetship, and because I already held a Third Engineer's licence I was promoted from the first contract. When I asked to be developed as a watchkeeping engineer instead, the answer was no — gas stream only — though later they moved me across anyway. If your licence is ready, this is currently a quick way up.
I sailed with the company as a cadet and then as an electrician's assistant through an agency. When I asked to do one more assistant contract to build experience before taking the ETO role, the company issued a do-not-return without stating a reason. I later started as ETO elsewhere and have since done four contracts in rank.