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Life on Merchant Vessels

Preprint · August 2022

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33117.28641

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Çağrı Barış Güneç

Sun Yat-sen University
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 Life on Merchant Vessels
There are various merchant ships built for different purposes including tanker vessels, bulk carriers,
passenger or container ships and Ro-Ro vessels, etc. And each of those vessels has different life on it. Since
the tanker vessels have more audits and control, it should be stricter to work on those vessels. In any case,
life at sea can be joyful and challenging for sure. In that essay, I would like to share my past experiences as
a deck officer on merchant vessels.
Work Hours:
Life starts at different times for different deck officers on ships. Each deck officer works for 4 hours
in the day and 4 hours in the evening, 8 hours in total. The newbie officer works between the hours of
08.00-12.00 and 20:00-24:00. The Second officer works between the hours of 00:00-04:00 and 12:00 to
16:00. The other working hours are designed for the chief officer of the ship, 04:00-08:00 and 16:00-20:00.
The Master of the ship does not have a specific working hour on the bridge, but he shall be ready for work
for any emergency situation for 24 hours. In addition, we should not forget that during berthing and
unberthing operations, all crew members must be awake and ready at the work site, no matter whether it is
your rest hours or not.
Work and Responsibilities:
Master is the God on the sea. He is responsible for almost everything on the vessels, not only the
security and safety of the ship but also the happiness and morale of the crew members. Everybody reports
any failure and mistake in their work to him and Master shares that news with the company daily. At port
entrance and exit, he takes command of the vessels and acts in synchronization with the local pilot, who is
a captain full of experience in the local sea. He signs and controls each port document by entrance and
departure.
The chief officer is the main officer who is responsible for the attitude and work of other officers
under the observation of the Master. The chief officer is also responsible for cargo and ballast arrangement
on vessels, in addition to his watchkeeping hours. He commands the ship during the entrance and exit
operations on the bridge under the observation of the Master. And, cooperates with port authorities during
loading and discharging operations.
The second officer takes maintenance of all bridge equipment, including ECDIS, VHF, RADAR,
NAVTEX, etc. all weekly and monthly tests of those devices are carried out by the second officer. Further,
The second officer creates the route of the ship between the ports and informs the master of the ship
immediately of any international warnings. During the berthing and unberthing operations, he also goes to
the bow of the ship and arranges ropes and anchor movements under the observation of the Master.
The third officer, some vessels might not be needed and gives all of his watchkeeping duties to the
Master and other duties to the chief and second officer. If he is available on the ship, then the third officer
will be called as safety officer, and he will take care of any maintenance of all safety equipment, including
firefighters, infirmary, IMO signs, paintings, etc., in addition to his watchkeeping hours. He is the junior
officer who takes control of the stern of the vessels during the berthing and unberthing operations according
to the guidance of the Master.
Crew Members usually assist in the maneuvering and anchoring operations under the guidance of
the Bosun. They are the hard work power of the ship and take care of the maintenance of the vessel,
including paintings, repairing, creating operational tools, etc.
 However, we should not forget that each specific type of merchant vessel might have different
operational duties for the crew members. And of course, every ship has a cook on it to provide fresh and
delicious food to crew members. Cooks on the ship have regular stool tests and have a record of vaccination
to protect crew members from any contagious diseases.
Salary:
The salary of seafarers is usually higher than those who work on the land. Since seafarers are unable
to visit their families during the time of the contract it is normal to have a higher salary for them. And again,
up to the type of vessel, salary might change. For instance, the highest salary can be earned on tanker and
passenger ships; whereas, the lowest amount of salary can be earned on bulk carriers. According to the rank
the salary is below,
The Master – 6000 USD – 10000 USD
The Chief Officer – 4500 USD to 7000 USD
The second Officer and The Third Officer usually have the same certifications and their salary is
almost the same. It can be up to 3000 USD to 4500 USD.
The greatest thing about the salary of seafarers is they do work according to their contract and they
got an extra one month’s salary when they finish their contract without any problem. Finally, we should not
forget that it is quite easy to save money by working on the vessels because from food to bedding all are
free on the ships for its crew members.
Communication:
It is the main difficulty we face on the merchant’s vessels, communication with family members is
not always possible. Most telephone signals are usable up to 10 – 12 sea miles. And, it is very cheap to get
a SIM CARD from any port ship that enters. Satellite communication is also present on the vessel; however,
it is very expensive and often used in emergency situations. For that reason, many crew members do not
prefer using it. If you are working on a vessel that has a coastal voyage, it is possible to have a phone signal
and internet connection almost for 24 hours.
Social Life:
Social Life is not very rich. However, by working on the merchant’s vessels, you can have some
breathtaking experiences. For example, sunrises and sunsets all are inspiring. If it is not your work hours,
and if it is safe to walk on the deck at that time, you can have a walk by watching amazing sunrises and
sunsets. You can encounter various sea animals. The most common of them are dolphin that races with
ships at the bow and sometimes whales. It is possible to play computer games and watch movies in your
free time as well. Some big vessels have a gym inside of them, and some have a small pool to swim and
enjoy. You can go out from the ship to travel to different countries and different cities in your free time.
Unfortunately, due to modern faster operations, many ships do not stay at port for a long time but it does
not mean that going out is impossible. Some LNG and Tanker vessels, on the other hand, do not berth the
land, for that reason the crew member might hire a boat to reach land. As you see, sometimes it is hard to
go out but it is never impossible.
As a writer, if you ask me, I would do that job for a lifetime but it would be great to experience that
lifestyle for a year. I spent one year as an intern on merchant’s vessels, 7 months on tanker vessels, and 5
months on two different container vessels. I worked a contract as a junior officer on a Tanker Vessel. I hope
that the essay helps those who are hesitating and wondering about life at sea.

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