Working on the Water: How Just About Anyone Can Become a Mariner

by Ryan Vagabundo

You don't have to have served in the Navy or Coast Guard to be a mariner. In fact, you don't have to have any specialized training at all. It's possible for anyone who is 18 or older and willing to work to get a job on a boat, as long as you're not susceptible to seasickness!

Entry-Level Deck Job Prerequisites

If you don't have any particular training or experience related to a maritime position, the job category to look for is "ordinary seaman" or "deckhand."

Though you don't need specific training or experience, you do need two credentials to get any job of this type. These are the U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) and the Dept. of Homeland Security Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). They'll cost about $250 to $400 together (depending on your health insurance as a chunk of the cost is a mandatory medical exam), and you can expect it to take at least a couple of weeks to work through the application process.

The TWIC should be the first step, since you may need it as a prerequisite for the MMC. You can complete the application online, but you'll need to visit a TWIC application center to complete the process by providing your ID (either a current passport or your state photo ID plus a birth certificate). You'll also pay the fee there, which is $125.25 for a card that is good for five years (it's $60 for each renewal). Pretty much all applicants who have not committed a serious felony crime are accepted. TWIC application centers can be found in nearly all major cities nationwide.

The MMC is available from the Coast Guard's Regional Examination Centers (RECs). You'll have to go to the REC in person for the whole application process. The Coast Guard website is confusing, as it lists a lot of extra requirements for more advanced positions and doesn't make clear exactly who needs to do what. If you're just aiming to be an ordinary seaman/deck hand, the process is pretty simple and much of what their website lists is not necessary.

There are a couple of extra preparation steps before you go to the REC, however. The biggest is getting medical clearance from a doctor. Download form 719K from the Coast Guard website and bring it to your doctor with you. They'll perform a routine primary physical along with an eye test. You'll also have to secure and pay for your own DOT 5-Panel drug test. If you don't have health insurance, many port cities have services that specialize in doing both the medical exam and drug test for a low price. If there's an REC office in the area, there's almost certainly a service that will do these things for you for south of $100, and someone at the REC office can usually refer you to them.

You can also pay your $145 fee in advance through the pay.gov website if you like, or just wait and pay in person at the REC when you bring your application. Along with the completed MMC application form (719B), your medical clearance and drug test results, you'll need to have an application receipt for your TWIC if you haven't received the actual card yet.

Once you have your MMC and TWIC in hand, you're ready to begin applying for jobs.

Who Is Hiring?

You might think that you have to be in a seaside port city to get a job as a merchant mariner. While that indeed is one good place to look, ocean-bound vessels aren't the only source of employment. Boats traveling in freshwater, like barges and ferries on rivers and lakes, also need deckhands.

Some of the significant hiring areas in the United States include:

• Barge, tugboat, and river cruise work on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

• Tows, ferries, barges, and shipping on the Puget Sound (between Seattle and Canada / Alaska)

• Supply vessels that support oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico

• Commercial freighters on the Great Lakes

What Is The Job Like?

Different vessels will have different duties for their deckhands, but they usually perform various low-level maintenance and cleaning tasks like painting decks, as well as handling lines when entering and leaving docks. "Watch" can sometimes be as minor as being available in case of emergency during your shift time, however. When little else is going on, deckhands may be asked to do visual safety inspections on things like cargo lashings and railings.

Deckhands usually work every day for the duration of their journey, which will usually last from 14 to 60 days. The shifts are almost always split into either four hours on and eight hours off, or six on and six off. You'll get an amount of time off at least equal to your total journey time when you get back, though you won't get paid while not working.

Ships vary in their facilities and amenities. Many now have creature comforts like WiFi and a fitness center, but there's no guarantee of any particular vessel having any specific thing. If a ship does have WiFi, keep in mind that it may go out temporarily while you are in the ocean or the middle of a large lake.

Career Advancement

If you're interested in the maritime industry but don't want to work your way up from deckhand, the only other real option is to go to a maritime academy.

There is a handful of these located in several states: California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Texas. Though you do not have to become a member of the Coast Guard, the academy is usually a quasi-military environment somewhat similar to ROTC programs. These programs give students experience aboard an actual ship as well as a bachelor's degree, and graduates move straight into higher-level officer positions.

There are also a handful of schools in coastal cities that offer training programs for specific maritime jobs. These are not affiliated with the Coast Guard and do not have the military-style requirements such as dress uniforms, but they train for particular roles such as the Able Seaman rating or an engineer position rather than offering a bachelor's degree. There is at least one such program that trains for an officer role, however; the Workboat Academy has a 28-month program that prepares graduates for a Third Mate's license, which is the entry point of the officer ranks.

Joining the Seafarer's International Union and taking their nine-month apprenticeship program is another option. That is another military-style program that has dress requirements and marching in formations among other things but allows you to get actual sea training as well as immediate access to higher-paying union jobs when you graduate.

Deckhands can still work their way up by taking courses and getting certifications on their own time, but it's a longer and slower process if you're working while doing it.

Getting Your First Job

Though the entry requirements are low, that doesn't mean jobs are necessarily plentiful. Maritime industries go through low and high periods just like any other. One advantage is that the field is projected to grow substantially over the next decade, and as many current merchant marines are hitting retirement age, there is a shortfall of new workers to replace them. If you're willing to travel, you stand a good chance of finding work. Keep in mind that you won't necessarily need to uproot your whole life, as your expenses will be covered on the ship while you're working, and you're usually off-duty for long enough (and making enough money) to be able to travel back and forth from your home.