NEWS OF JOBS A Great Career Can Be Smooth Sailing

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Military veterans, medical personnel, culinary experts, engineers and others can find good training, good jobs, good pay and a good feeling of belonging with the Merchant Marine.
Military veterans, medical personnel, culinary experts, engineers and others can find good training, good jobs, good pay and a good feeling of belonging with the Merchant Marine.

(NAPSI)—Men and women with a taste for travel can make good money and do some good in the world when they take up a career as a U.S. Merchant Mariner.

What They Do

Although considered the nation’s “fourth arm of defense,” America’s mariners are civilians working for private companies and are not members of the armed forces.

Now, Seafarers International Union (SIU)–contracted companies offer plentiful opportunities for employment aboard all types of vessels, including deep-sea cargo vessels, tankers, military support ships, Great Lakes vessels, cable ships, tugboats, passenger ferries and more.

What You Can Do

There’s a surprising variety of jobs available, too. Here’s a look at a few and the basic requirements for applicants:

  • Military veterans with Deck and Engine ratings in a watch-standing capacity who have sea time within the last seven years, and have been honorably discharged, can enter the special veterans program at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education in Maryland. So can culinary specialists with food preparation experience and at least eight years of military service. Through the school, they can get Basic Safety, Able Seafarer Deck or Able Seafarer Engine, and VPDSD endorsements, and graduates are guaranteed a first job on board a U.S.-flag merchant vessel.
  • The school has an apprentice program providing free room and board. In addition to entry-level training, the school offers ongoing vocational classes, academic support and more. The school emphasizes hands-on training and features top-notch educational equipment such as simulators for deck and engine work. All graduates are guaranteed a first job. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and qualify for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential, and U.S. Passport.
  • Registered Nurses with emergency room experience and other Independent Duty Corpsmen.
  • Storekeepers, performing supply department functions.
  • Cooks to work aboard U.S.-flag merchant vessels. Applicants must have at least five years of food preparation experience or equivalent education from a two-year culinary college or program, plus two years of work experience in the food preparation field.
  • Engineers.
  • Electricians.
  • Pumpmen, who help promote safety aboard oil tankers and other cargo ships.
  • Hotel workers for jobs aboard cruise ships.

Learn More

For further facts, call (800) 732-2739 or visit www.seafarers.org/jobs/jobs.asp.