Deck officer (navigating officer)
The officer who navigates a merchant ship and handles its cargo, working up from Third Officer to Master. Entered through B.Sc Nautical Science at a DG Shipping approved institute.
- Work setting
- A ship's bridge at sea, in contracts of six to nine months, with shore leave between
- Hours
- Watch-keeping shifts around the clock, every day of a contract
- Remote
- Usually no
- Travel
- Continuous - you live at the workplace for the length of the contract
- Qualification
- B.Sc Nautical Science from a DG Shipping approved institute, plus certificates of competency for each rank
- Read
- 1 min
Overview
Understand the role
The deck officer navigates the ship, plans and secures the cargo, and takes responsibility for the safety of both. The ladder ends at Master, which on a merchant ship is the final authority.
What the work involves
Day to day
Bridge watch-keeping, passage planning and position fixing, cargo loading and stability calculation, port documentation, and drills and inspections against international safety regulation. On a modern ship a great deal of it is compliance work as well as seamanship.
Who should choose it
Fit
People who are comfortable holding responsibility alone at three in the morning. Progression is unusually predictable — sea time plus a competency exam moves you up regardless of who likes you — and the earnings at senior rank are high for a three-year degree.
The reality of the job
Read this one
Long contracts, disrupted sleep, and months without seeing anyone you know. Eyesight and colour vision standards are strict and non-negotiable, so test before you invest. Responsibility is real: errors on a bridge cost lives and cargo, and the industry treats them accordingly. Shore careers in pilotage, port operations, surveying and chartering follow for those who stop sailing.
Courses that lead here
How to qualify