The
Merchant Marines, And What They Do
Who are the merchant marines? First let me start by saying they are not military.
The closest they come to military is that all of their credentials are issued by the United States Coast Guard who oversees all aspects of marine safety on the U.S. waterways. The
merchant marines are a civilian organization that work as crew members on all U.S. flagged merchant vessels. These vessels can be any of the following; ocean going freighters that travel around the world. Iron ore freighters on the Great Lakes, Casino boats on the Mississippi river. Tug boats that push up to thirty barges at once up and down the Mississippi river. Tanker ships on the Great Lakes, rivers and oceans. Thousand foot cruise ships that take thousands of passengers all over the world.
The merchant marines must have credentials issues by the U.S. Coast Guard to work on any commercial vessel over two hundred gross registered tons. These credentials range from the OS or ordinary seaman (deckhand) to Master any gross tons upon oceans and everything in between. The engine room and galley crew must also have credentials issued by the Coast Guard. That's right, you need a merchant marine credential just to wash dishes on a ship. The engine room will usually have a Chief
Engineer, First assistant engineer, second assistant engineer, and a third assistant engineer. They will also have a Oiler/QMED, which means Qualified Member Engine Department.
I sailed in the merchant marines during the 1970's in the engine department on the Great Lakes. I joined and was issued a credential from the Coast Guard in 1973. I was just eighteen and single at the time so it was a very good job that I loved. Since I was single and lived with my parents when I was home, I was able to save all the money I made because I had no living expenses. On the Great Lakes we hauled primarily iron ore from Minnesota down to the lower lake ports such as Toledo, Cleveland and Detroit. The iron ore went to the steel mills that produced all the steel for the auto industry.
The company that I worked for back then was called Columbia Transportation Division of Oglebay Norton Company. That was the company that owned The Edmund Fitzgerald which sank on Lake Superior the night of November 10, 1975. They filed bankruptcy In 2007 and had to sell all their ships to other companies. I still have friends that sail on the Great Lakes at the time of this writing and the company that they worked for owns fifteen ships. In 2008 they only sailed three of the fifteen ships and left the others tied to the dock because the economy was so bad. When the auto industry died the steel mills closed and there was no need to bring iron ore down from the iron ore ranges in Minnesota to the lower lakes so the companies had no contracts for cargo.
Most everybody knows that the Great Lakes freeze during the winter months so the ships cannot run in the ice. When the ships stop running they lay them up for the winter months and the entire crew goes home from about January until April when they "fit-out" for the season. When I worked in the engine room I was always off work during the winter so I would go to Florida until the company called me to come back to work in the spring. So you can see why it was such a good job. Other ships that work all year round have different schedules for the crew. For example some of the merchant mariners who work on off shore supply vessels in the Gulf Of Mexico will work sixty days on and then take two weeks off. Even if you are married, that's not a bad schedule for the money you make. All they do is run supplies out to the oil rigs in the gulf.
The average pay for the merchant marines depends on many thing such as your position on the ship and the company you work for. Some companies are union and some are not. That can make a big difference in how much you get paid. A deckhand can make about thirty thousand dollars a year or more. However a captain or chief engineer can make one hundred thousand dollars or more per year based on many factors. There are several websites that give you a lot of good information about the merchant marines.
Here are a few; merchant-marines.com, merchantmarinejobs.org, Edmund-Fitzgerald.com, one site about Great Lakes shipwrecks is the-great-lakes.info, others about the merchant marines are; merchant-marines.info, work-on-cruise-ships.info, cruise-ship-employment.info, chartercaptain.merchant-marines.com, oh yes, even the charter captain who takes you out fishing for hire must have a license from the Coast Guard and is considered a merchant marine.