| Comment | Pay in the Merchant Navy is definitely good (as long as you don't work out your hourly rate!) from the outset as soon as you get your first ticket (Engineering or Deck) but it's feckin hard graft and from personal experience you see the world but don't see much of it. On the engine side of things you can expect a typical working week to be upwards of 84hrs a week. If deep sea that can be 7 days a week for 4-5 months at a time without a single day off. Pretty much the same on the deck but less physically demanding. On the likes of ferries you'll still be looking at upwards of 84hrs a week but maybe only 2,3 or 4 on/off. 90-100 hr weeks were a pretty common thing for me (engineer).
Turnaround time in port can be as little as a day for huge (20000+ TEU) box boat or VLCC/ULCC. On tankers you don't always even get in port. Joined one once at at SBM and paid off at the same SBM 5 months later having never set foot on land the whole trip. Brutal!
Going in as a rating is probably easier in terms of work / hours but less pay obviously than an officer. Tend to get a bit more (not always much) time up the road though when tied up. |
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