Automatic translation
After completing the first practice and having already familiarized themselves with many of the nuances of working at sea, on a ship, in an international team, many seafarers immediately begin to make far-reaching plans to build their career as a seafarer. Of course, the high-quality performance of their duties, the observance of unspoken maritime regulations significantly increase the prospects of each individual specialist. Nevertheless, in many ways, your earnings and career depend on your chosen specialty and the specifics of the employment of seafarers, but you should not underestimate many other nuances. Let's consider them in more detail. Advantages and disadvantages of vacancies First of all, let's not forget that each proposed vacancy at sea has its own advantages and disadvantages, but, most importantly, its requirements for the applicant. Naturally, you must have a document confirming your qualifications in this particular specialty, be it a seafarer or a ship's chef. Well, and those seafarers who plan to take the position of one of the members of the senior command staff will definitely need a document of higher education. The knowledge of many foreign languages significantly increases your chances of a successful career. Of course, knowledge of at least the English language, due to its internationality, is basic. But you will get a serious advantage over other applicants for your position if you speak at least one or two more foreign languages. Now knowledge of the German language is especially appreciated (since there are often vacancies from German crewing companies for German ships) and Spanish or Portuguese (since these languages are spoken by most of the countries of both Americas). By the way, now the question of the need to know the Chinese language is increasingly being raised, since many vacancies are offered by the Asian market, in particular, work on container ships. As we pointed out earlier, your career is largely influenced by the specialty you choose and how well you perform when working at sea. Examples of the most successful seafarers prove that, with the quality performance of their duties, a seafarer reaches the captain's position (or chief engineer, who is in what specialty) in about 6-8 years. But this period, of course, will not be the same for absolutely all seafarers and often depends on the shipowners themselves. Earning opportunities Naturally, many seafarers are primarily attracted by their earning opportunities in building a career. It is difficult to argue here, because the more experienced a seafarer and the higher his position, the more he is appreciated as a specialist and the more they are willing to pay him. For example, in the summer of 2021, on the Ukrainian market of vacancies for seafarers, the largest pay was offered to the captain of a German tanker transporting liquid petroleum gas and it was 14,500 USD per month, including bonuses, subject to the conclusion of a 4-month contract. Another offer was already from a Singaporean company (remember the Asian market), also for 4 months and also for the captain of an oil tanker with a wage of 12,650 to 14,650 USD per month. The lowest paid offer for a captain's vacancy was about EUR 4,300 and related to work on a dry cargo ship. The most numerous offers for work at sea (as a captain of a ship) concerned work on bulk carriers of various types - there the payment limit is 8,500-9,000 USD per month. Agree, the amounts are more than worthy to build a career as a seafarer now. Summing up, I would like to say that being a seafarer means having an unlimited number of career opportunities. The main thing is to always remember that this growth depends on your abilities for development, the desire to constantly learn something new, not to be satisfied with what has already been achieved and love for your work.
