Deckhand vs deck seaman

The differences between deckhands and deck seamen can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a deck seaman has an average salary of $60,197, which is higher than the $56,163 average annual salary of a deckhand.

The top three skills for a deckhand include TWIC, vessel maintenance and mooring lines. The most important skills for a deck seaman are helm, safety equipment, and boats.

Deckhand vs deck seaman overview

	Deckhand	Deck Seaman
Yearly salary	$56,163	$60,197
Hourly rate	$27.00	$28.94
Growth rate	1%	1%
Number of jobs	500	476
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 43%	High School Diploma, 38%
Average age	33	33
Years of experience	-	-

Deckhand vs deck seaman salary

Deckhands and deck seamen have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Deckhand	Deck Seaman
Average salary	$56,163	$60,197
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $145,000	Between $23,000 And $152,000
Highest paying City	Bayonne, NJ	-
Highest paying state	New Jersey	-
Best paying company	Enterprise Products Partners	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between deckhand and deck seaman education

There are a few differences between a deckhand and a deck seaman in terms of educational background:

	Deckhand	Deck Seaman
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 43%	High School Diploma, 38%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Deckhand vs deck seaman demographics

Here are the differences between deckhands' and deck seamen' demographics:

	Deckhand	Deck Seaman
Average age	33	33
Gender ratio	Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1%	Male, 84.7% Female, 15.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 16.9% Unknown, 9.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 4.8% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7%	Black or African American, 16.2% Unknown, 9.5% Hispanic or Latino, 13.6% Asian, 5.0% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7%
LGBT Percentage	3%	3%

Differences between deckhand and deck seaman duties and responsibilities

Deckhand example responsibilities.

Conduct daily JSA's, occasionally lead weekly fire and boat drills.
Spearhead cross-functional initiative to achieve successful whole shipments of wild Alaskan salmofrozen and gut.
Qualify shipboard firefighting and water survival, certify CPR human resources.
Maintain working order of multiple boats including water taxis, ferries, yachts, and passenger vessels.
Comply with all environmental and CFR regulations.
Sign DOI and go over pretransfer procedures.

Deck seaman example responsibilities.

Conduct daily JSA's, occasionally lead weekly fire and boat drills.
Utilize GPS, GIS, side scan sonar, and multibeam sonar technologies.
Operate, maintain and repair ship equipment such as winches, cranes, lines, wires, etc.
Participate in firefighting and damage control exercises.
Perform damage control and emergency firefighting prevention.
Qualify to maintain, troubleshoot and repair navigation, communications and radar electronics.

Deckhand vs deck seaman skills

Common deckhand skills

TWIC, 9%
Vessel Maintenance, 9%
Mooring Lines, 8%
Ladders, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
USCG, 6%

Common deck seaman skills

Helm, 17%
Safety Equipment, 17%
Boats, 9%
Load Cargo, 8%
Shipboard Equipment, 4%
Navigational Aids, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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