Subtitles section Play video
-
Whats up guys, today i'm going to tell you why maritime is such a great career!
-
Despite~ my previous video about 10 reason why it sucks
-
I've added time stamps so you can jump around.
-
Check it out in the description.
-
First off, The pay
-
Obviously everyone knows this, the pay is good.
-
You could be working as a officer or engineer at age 22, while making two or three times
-
the amount as someone who is freshly graduated working a white collar job.
-
Ofcourse theres lot of variables such as the nationality,the company, where you are from,
-
the flag state but if you compare domestically, its often a few times higher than land base.
-
That being said You can't compare, say, an american salary to a chinese one.
-
The standard of living is different.
-
The point is no matter which country you are from, money does play a big incentive for
-
all seafarers.
-
Second on is Tax free
-
Some countries like china is an exception, but for the majority of the international
-
seafarers we dont get taxed.
-
For example I'm from Canada and a high salary job can get hit up to 35% tax, thats one third
-
of what you make gone instantly to the government.
-
I heard in UK if you earn more than 151 thousand pounds a year, you get taxed 45%.
-
Thats crazy! half of your blood and sweat going into someone else pocket.
-
So now Maritime... not only is my pay better but on top of that I dont get taxed.
-
So the gap is pretty big.
-
Third one Career Flexibility and Long term prospect
-
Alot of officers dont make it to Ocean going unlimited Class 1 licenses because they either
-
work offshore or inland.
-
Class 1 meaning Captains or Chief Engineer.
-
So the demand for those with experience is very high.
-
You've got lots of career flexibility once you reach there, you can stay working on ship
-
or move ashore work in say marine department, mangment position in shipping companies, marine
-
surveyors,maritime consultant, port captain, maritime pilot.
-
The end game is filled with opportunity.
-
And seriously this industry have way less competition than any out there.
-
All of which pays really well.
-
Like REALLY REALLY well, im not pulling it this out of thin air, you can look up wikipedia.
-
I'm talking like four hundred thousand USD per year for some american maritime pilots.
-
In australia, maritime pilots earn about 250,000 auds per year.
-
Other places like UK, Taiwan and Hong Kong are similar too.
-
So!
-
No matter the ups and downs of economy that affects shipping, the long term prospect is
-
always going to be good.
-
I mean if tomorrow the stock market crashes or something, you still need Captains, harbour
-
pilots to bring ship in.
-
People still need their fresh food and LNG LPG coming into the port., you can't have
-
ships unmanned floating around.
-
This was actually one of my biggest incentive that got me working in the maritime field.
-
Number 4 Job Security
-
Lets be honest, no matter which industry you are from, if you are a fresh graduate from
-
uni, you will always have trouble finding first job So..
-
Finding company as a cadet can be tough but once you step foot into the industry and have
-
some experience as an officer, theres ton of company willing to hire you.
-
The key to finding a company is to be presistent, grind it out and keep sending reumes, keep
-
interviewing.
-
So taking it back to job security, if you all heard of hanjin going bankrupt earlier
-
this year..
-
I have a subscriber who kept in contact with me on instagram, when it turn to shit he was
-
messaging me.
-
What happened was within less than 2 months he was already hired back as a 2nd mate in
-
another company.
-
Now ofcourse this is only one sample size but lots of my seniors came fromother shipping
-
companies said the same thing.
-
Company will happily pick you up if you have experience.
-
And thats what I mean by once you step foot inside the industry, the job security is very
-
good.
-
Unless you company go bankrupt you really have nothing to worry, even then its easy
-
to switch company.
-
Fifth one is travel
-
Another obvious one, you get to travel around the world while getting paid.
-
Passenger ships will have the most touristy destinations.
-
Container ships will visit a lot of prots at a high frequency.
-
Bulk or tankers will spend much longer time at sea betweens ports but they also have long
-
port stay.
-
So take your pick.
-
Perhaps the only other industry that can match merchant marine is airlines.
-
Number 6 lifestyle
-
once in a while you will have to do some over time for a port state inspection or annual
-
survey but other than that, The lifestyle on ship is very uniform and scheduled.
-
Surprisingly, my lifestyle on ship is much healthier than my lifestyle at home.
-
I wake up early, sleep early, and exercise daily on the ship.
-
I also have less distractions and can focus on what I need to do.
-
Thats one of the reason why I make more videos on the ship.
-
I think the credit goes to limited internet, you became much more focus on improving yourself.
-
I learnt video editing from youtube videos without internet, crazy right?What I do is
-
while i'm at port I download the tutorials and save them for watching offline later.
-
Other seafarers i've sailed with, they read book, learn musical instrument, carving, or
-
just general hobbies, and they extremely good at it.
-
There was one of my cadets learnt how to back flip front flip and gianers on the ship.
-
Working Schedule, For deck officers we do 4 hours watch and rest 8 hours, 4on8off 4on8off
-
around the clock for 6 months contract.
-
Engineers work 8 to 5, with night rounds rotations.
-
And thats pretty standard across the whole industry.
-
So if you enjoy a steady work rest time table, merchant marine is perfect.
-
Number 7 Long Vacations and Holiday
-
Spending 6 months away from home sucks, well not really..
-
That's because I get to spent 3 months of quality holiday time.
-
People ashore work 5 days a week and get a small tiny weekend off.
-
You'll have to rush and do whatever it is that they enjoy in 2 days time.
-
For me I have 3 months all to myself to relax, go on vacation, spent quality time without
-
rush.
-
The sum of all rest is much greater when it is continous.
-
I get recharged after like 2 months and just can't wait till to go back to sea.
-
Number 8 Autonomy, You are your own boss
-
What I mean is, On ocean passages the captain only comes to the bridge for some adminstrative
-
work or paper work, and that's maybe 1-2 hours a day.
-
Even then the captain is on his computer and you are handling the navigation and in charge
-
of the overall command.
-
He is not going come and distract you at work and give you extra stress.
-
So the working envirnomet is very flexible and relaxing on the brdigeYou know cadet at
-
the back making me coffee.
-
Assign him everything because he has to learn.
-
For engineers and ratings, well the tasks assigned at sea is usually split up into groups
-
of 2 or 3 people, The Chief Engineer isn't going to stand behind your shoulders and look
-
at how you are doing.
-
each engineer is usually responsible for different set of machinerys and equipments.
-
so for example if you are 4th engineer, and you are assigned to do a task.
-
you can do at your own pace as long as you get it complete before the deadline, no one
-
is going to nag.
-
I mean unless you screw something up
-
Number 9 Straightforward Job and task
-
Because ships now days are in such minimum manning, everyone's job description is clearly
-
labeled.
-
Except Cadets.
-
In contrast if you work ashore you have to adapte and cater to lousy customers or special
-
project requests.
-
I'd imagine if you work white collar, in hospital or bank , everyday there's something different
-
happening.
-
But on the ship every task is very routine and designated.
-
For example Chief mates are incharge of cargo and stability.
-
2nd mates in charge of Charts and publications, third mates in charge of LSA FFA. engineers
-
are in charge of different set of machineries.
-
Bosun are in charge of the crew assigned to different sections of the ship.
-
Everyone knows what they are suppose to do.
-
You won't see third mate, me, going to assign work for the crew, that's bosun's job.
-
You won't see the chief mate chart correcting unless the second mate is newb.
-
The cook well he cooks.
-
No one else is going to cook.
-
It is pretty straightforward and no dramas
-
Number 10 No competitions, and fast promotion In a corporate office i'd imagine there will
-
be 10 people competing for managerial position.
-
But on ship it's actually quite simple.
-
What happens is most people sign on with a higher license.
-
For example a cadet will sign on with a class 3 license, a second mate license.
-
A second mate sign on with a chief mate license.
-
And Chief mate sign on with a captain's license.
-
You get enough sea time, Captain approves or company approves.
-
Then you get a promotion simple as that.
-
There's no need to compete for promotion, spots aren't limited, there was one sister ship
-
that had 3 third mate at the same time just because two of the cadets just happen to promote.
-
Last one is Solitude, now this one is like 11th and not included in the 10 reasons.
-
It is more personal since it is personal I don't think everyone will feel the same way
-
as I do.
-
Working at sea there's a lot of solitude, quiet time to think about myself and my life.
-
Perhaps it's the isolation.
-
And that changes my perspective in life.
-
working in this industry will give you the same effect.it is similar to people who are
-
enlightened when they go on a pilgrimage, like Mark Zuckerberg or Steve jobs on their
-
trip to India.
-
You travel the world while disconnected from internet and social media and realise that
-
how small and insignificant one can be.
-
Social media, news, events around the world just left me behind while on ship.
-
To me it can be parallel to what being in prison is like, you do time in prison and
-
you realize how precious time, relationship and just how precious being alive is.
-
So that changed me, one of which was I want to make an impact in the world, which is why
-
I started this maritime vlog to help cadets, seafarers or people who thinking about joining.
-
It seems i've become more altruistic because of the experience in maritime industry.
-
2nd thing was appreciating time spent with family and friends.
-
Back before I started I would play league of legends all day.
-
But now when i'm home, I would sit next to my grandma and hold her hand and have long
-
conversation, listen to what she has to say.
-
Spend the time bonding with her.
-
You start to realize that life is short and fragile and the time we spent together is
-
very limited.
-
Third thing is that i learn to hustle, On ship I realized i've spent so much time of my life
-
at work, so when i'm off work, I better make every second count doing whatever it is that
-
I enjoy.
-
And that's it folks!
-
Hope that give you some motivation as to why it is awesome to work in the maritime indsutry.
-
Please Share or tag a friend who is thinking of joining maritime or studying in marine
-
school.
-
Let them know its not as bad as it seems.
-
In fact i'd choose this maritime over any land job if I went back in time.
-
Give this a like and ill see you guys next time!