If you've chosen a career at sea and are diligently working your way up the career ladder towards becoming a ship captain, you're probably wondering what you'll do and what positions you might achieve along the way. When you come on board a ship as a “green” sailor, you probably don’t even think that as you move up the career ladder, not only your salary will be added, but also the scope of responsibilities that you will have to strictly fulfill.
Thus, the position of senior mate is considered a fairly high position. The Chief Officer is the second person on the ship after the captain, his right hand. According to the administrative procedure, the entire crew of the ship must report to the chief mate. And all his orders that relate to court order, service organization and discipline are considered one of the most important. The senior mate is considered the head of general ship service. It is he who supervises not only the work of the deck crew, but also the household crew, as well as all the other assistants to the captain who are subordinate to him.
Responsibilities on the ship of the chief mate
The chief mate on a ship has a lot of responsibilities, namely:
Drawing up and adjusting the ship's schedule.
Organization and preparation of the entire crew for possible disasters, training and instruction on safety precautions, rules of conduct for each crew member, use of life-saving equipment, etc.
Monitoring the completeness of all life-saving equipment on the ship.
Controls that there is always a supply of food on board the ship for the entire crew for a certain period of time.
Monitors and keeps records of the presence of water in ballast and drinking tanks.
Distributes all crew members, as well as new arrivals, to living quarters.
Provides technical operation of all components of the ship (except for the engine room, in which the chief engineer is the main manager).
Together with the senior engineer, he checks the condition of watertight compartments and closures on the ship.
Plans all ship operations, including monitoring the quality of prepared food for the crew.
Distributes all sailors to various services on the ship for their further work.
Helps the captain with maintaining documentation on the technical condition of the ship, etc.
In addition to their responsibilities during the voyage, senior officers take an active part in loading and unloading the ship, preparing the ship for sailing, and in many other situations. Thus, during loading and unloading operations, the senior mate personally supervises all work, especially when it comes to dangerous cargo. We should also not forget that this sailor, like any other on the ship, is on watch duty.
Crewing companies offer a large number of vacancies for the position of chief mate. This is a fairly high position where you can earn good money and be proud to be a sailor.
