How To Become A Marine Cargo Inspector: What It Is and Career Path

What is a marine cargo inspector and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a marine cargo inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.13 an hour? That's $48,117 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -17,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMarine Cargo InspectorUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,117

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.68%

Asian 7.22%

Black or African American 14.05%

Hispanic or Latino 16.28%

Unknown 7.45%

White 54.32%

Gender

female 11.96%

male 88.04%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a marine cargo inspector

Explore marine cargo inspector education requirements

Most common marine cargo inspector degrees

Bachelor's

66.1 %

High School Diploma

14.3 %

Associate

14.3 %

Start to develop specific marine cargo inspector skills

Skills	Percentages
USCG	28.00%
Plan Review	26.44%
Firefighting	18.44%
Federal Regulations	11.25%
API	6.59%

Complete relevant marine cargo inspector training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New marine cargo inspectors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a marine cargo inspector based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real marine cargo inspector resumes.

Research marine cargo inspector duties and responsibilities

Conduct dimensional and visual inspections procedures on CMM machines to ensure geometrical characteristics of the product are in specification.
Perform annual termite inspections of residential and commercial termite contract customers (average 80 per month )

Prepare your marine cargo inspector resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your marine cargo inspector resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a marine cargo inspector resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable marine cargo inspector resume templates

Build a professional marine cargo inspector resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your marine cargo inspector resume.