Maritime Career Guide
A complete guide to maritime careers — deck and engineering career ladders, STCW training requirements, salary ranges and how to get started as a seafarer.
Active Seafarers
1.89M
Officer Shortage
16,500
Avg Master Salary
$10–15K/mo
Training Duration
3–4 years
Deck Department — Officer Pathway
| Rank | Salary Range |
|---|---|
Officer Cadet 3–4 years | $800–1,200/month |
Officer of the Watch (OOW) / 3rd Officer After COC OOW | $2,500–4,000/month |
2nd Officer 12–18 months OOW sea service | $3,500–5,500/month |
Chief Mate / 1st Officer After Chief Mate COC | $5,000–8,000/month |
Master After Master COC | $7,000–15,000/month |
Engine Department — Officer Pathway
| Rank | Salary Range |
|---|---|
Engineering Cadet 3–4 years | $800–1,200/month |
Watch Keeping Engineer / 4th Engineer After COC OOW Eng | $2,500–4,000/month |
3rd Engineer 12+ months sea service | $3,000–5,000/month |
2nd Engineer After COC 2nd Eng | $5,000–8,000/month |
Chief Engineer After COC Chief Eng | $7,000–15,000/month |
STCW Training Courses
| Course | Duration |
|---|---|
| Basic Safety Training (BST) | 5 days |
| Proficiency in Survival Craft | 3 days |
| Advanced Fire Fighting | 3 days |
| Medical First Aid / Medical Care | 3–5 days |
| ECDIS Generic + Type-Specific | 4–5 days |
| GMDSS General Operator Certificate | 4–6 weeks |
| Bridge Resource Management (BRM) | 3 days |
| Engine Room Resource Management (ERM) | 3 days |
| Ship Security Officer | 2 days |
| Oil Tanker Operations (Basic/Advanced) | 2–5 days |