Watch: Merchant Navy Salary – How Much Do They Earn?

As we all know the merchant navy is one of the most sought after careers in the world mainly because of the lucrative salary it provides.

It is a difficult career option to pursue, both physically and mentally, and that is probably the main reason people are paid well in this field.

Now we all know that you are interested in knowing how much does one earns in merchant navy?

Watch the video below to find out:

To answer this question, we will ask you to first watch our video on all the ranks in merchant navy along with their duties. This will help you understand the salary structure better.

It is to note that the exact answer on how much a maritime professional will earn depends on several factors such as nationality, shipping company, type of vessel, rank, qualification, experience, loyalty, etc.

Also, generally, a freshly promoted 2nd engineer will earn less than a 2nd engineer who has sailed for more than 2-3 ships. Many companies provide additional benefits to loyal seafarers. Hence, a 3rd engineer who has been with a particular company for a long time may earn more than a freshly recruited 3rd engineer having more experience.

As mentioned earlier, though the Merchant navy is famous for offering attractive salaries to professional, a lot differs from country to country and company to company.

To give a general overview of how much an average seafarer earns, we will consider average salaries of seafarers across various departments and ranks.

Do note that the seafarers are usually hired on a contractual basis, i.e. they are not hired as a permanent employee and the company will pay the seafarer on a monthly basis till the contract is over.

Hence, the salary details provided in this video are on a monthly basis and not yearly.

Also, the salary range will vary depending upon the nationality of the seafarer. For e.g. the person residing in an Asian country will usually have a lesser salary as compared to that in most of the European countries.

If you are joining a company which owns the ship, you may be able to negotiate a higher salary when compared to a ship management company as the owner allots a budget for the whole ship operation to the management company, including the salary of the crew, and the management company has to run the ship in the provided budget.

Watch salary earned by maritime professionals of all ranks around the world.

Note: This is just a rough estimate of the salaries that are earned in the merchant navy.

The salaries would change according to the company, the type of ship, seniority, loyalty, experience, skills etc.

For example, a freshly promoted 2E sailing with the company for a long time may earn more than a freshly recruited experienced 2E as the former will get loyalty bonus etc.

Please do note that the salary range will further go down if the company provides round the year wages i.e. both when onboard and when on land.

Disclaimer: The authors’ views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Marine Insight. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Marine Insight do not claim it to be accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and do not constitute any guidelines or recommendation on any course of action to be followed by the reader.

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About Author

Raunek Kantharia is a marine engineer turned maritime writer and entrepreneur. After a brief stint at the sea, he founded Marine Insight in 2010. Apart from managing Marine Insight, he also writes for a number of maritime magazines and websites.

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