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

What is a merchant marine and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a merchant marine. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.73 an hour? That's $59,752 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMerchant MarineUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $59,752

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.70%

Asian 5.04%

Black or African American 16.04%

Hispanic or Latino 13.88%

Unknown 9.35%

White 54.00%

Gender

female 11.24%

male 88.76%

Age - 31

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 - 31

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.9

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a merchant marine

Explore merchant marine education requirements

Most common merchant marine degrees

Bachelor's

52.9 %

High School Diploma

16.7 %

Associate

15.5 %

Start to develop specific merchant marine skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Procedures	29.00%
Vessel Security	17.00%
Diesel Engines	13.76%
Cargo Operations	10.23%
Deck Hand	8.51%

Complete relevant merchant marine training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New merchant marines 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 merchant marine based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real merchant marine resumes.

Research merchant marine duties and responsibilities

Manage the logistics and operation of 23 work centers locate at five separate sites in a dynamic operational environment.
Operate and maintain firefighting safety equipment and maintain ships operational condition.
Ensure that the facilities capabilities are complimentary to the task request by FEMA logistics.
Develop and present briefings to management and senior leadership.

Prepare your merchant marine resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your merchant marine 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 merchant marine resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable merchant marine resume templates

Build a professional merchant marine 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 merchant marine resume.