How To Become A Tug Boat Captain: What It Is and Career Path

What is a tug boat captain 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 tug boat captain. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.02 an hour? That's $56,200 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreTug Boat CaptainUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $56,200

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.5

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.08%

Asian 3.12%

Black or African American 6.73%

Hispanic or Latino 8.77%

Unknown 4.70%

White 75.59%

Gender

female 3.03%

male 96.97%

Age - 40.5

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 - 40.5

Stress level

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a tug boat captain

Explore tug boat captain education requirements

Most common tug boat captain degrees

Bachelor's

39.3 %

High School Diploma

32.1 %

Master's

14.3 %

Start to develop specific tug boat captain skills

Skills	Percentages
Boats	36.17%
USCG	32.28%
Rig	31.55%

Complete relevant tug boat captain training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New tug boat captains 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 tug boat captain based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real tug boat captain resumes.

Research tug boat captain duties and responsibilities

Lead a platoon that earn numerous awards for jamming opposition force artillery nets and conducting counterattacks on opposition electronic warfare platoons.
Direct the installation, operation and maintenance of military radio and telecommunications assets for combat infantry units and fix telephone facilities.
Monitor checkout stations to ensure that they have adequate cash available and that they are staffed appropriately.

Prepare your tug boat captain resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable tug boat captain resume templates

Build a professional tug boat captain 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 tug boat captain resume.