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

What is a merchant seaman 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 seaman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.55 an hour? That's $53,140 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMerchant SeamanUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,140

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.70%

Asian 4.86%

Black or African American 17.35%

Hispanic or Latino 13.21%

Unknown 9.34%

White 53.55%

Gender

female 5.68%

male 94.32%

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 seaman

Explore merchant seaman education requirements

Most common merchant seaman degrees

High School Diploma

50.0 %

Bachelor's

21.4 %

Associate

21.4 %

Start to develop specific merchant seaman skills

Skills	Percentages
Cargo Operations	43.13%
Cranes	39.74%
General Maintenance	17.13%

Complete relevant merchant seaman training and internships

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

Research merchant seaman duties and responsibilities

Conduct daily JSA's, occasionally lead weekly fire and boat drills.
Train in/for basic damage control teams during general quarters and general emergency; shipboard firefighting, controlling compartment flooding.
Serve with responsibility for protecting the environment by ensuring the safe transfer of petrochemicals to vessel, dock, or barge.

Prepare your merchant seaman resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your merchant seaman 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 seaman 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 seaman resume templates

Build a professional merchant seaman 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 seaman resume.