The world moves by sea.

SECURITY

How Pirates Actually Capture a 50,000-Ton Ship

A 50,000-ton merchant ship may look almost impossible to overpower. Yet piracy has shown that size alone does not guarantee safety at sea.

SHIPPING

Why Are Ships Going Around Africa Instead of Through the Suez Canal?

The longer route around the Cape of Good Hope is becoming a strategic choice as security risks reshape global shipping.

TECHNOLOGY

Could a Nuclear-Powered Container Ship Become Reality?

New reactor technology and pressure to decarbonise shipping are bringing the idea back into serious discussion.

SAFETY

What Happens When a Giant Container Ship Loses Its Engine?

When a ship carrying thousands of containers suddenly loses propulsion, the ocean becomes a very different place.

TECHNOLOGY

Could Fully Autonomous Cargo Ships Replace Crews?

Removing the crew raises a bigger question: can technology really replace human judgment at sea?

LIFE AT SEA

What Is It Really Like to Spend 6 Months at Sea?

Routine, responsibility, isolation, friendship, and learning to live with the ocean.

ON THE BRIDGE

Deck Department

The deck department navigates the ship and looks after everything the ship carries. That means passage planning, bridge watchkeeping, collision avoidance, cargo loading and discharge, stability and draught calculations, mooring operations, and the maintenance of hull, holds and life-saving equipment. Legally, the department also holds responsibility for the safety of everyone on board.

1. 01 Master Overall command. Legal authority over ship, cargo and crew; keeps no navigational watch.
2. 02 Chief Officer Second in command. Runs cargo operations, stability and the deck maintenance plan; keeps the 04–08 watch.
3. 03 Second Officer Navigator. Passage planning, chart and ECDIS upkeep, medical duties; keeps the 12–04 watch.
4. 04 Third Officer Safety equipment and LSA/FFA inspections; keeps the 08–12 watch.
5. 05 Deck Cadet Trainee officer building sea time against a training record book.

EXPLORE THE DECK SIDE →

IN THE ENGINE ROOM

Engine Department

The engine department keeps the ship moving and alive. Propulsion, electrical generation, fuel and lubricating oil systems, boilers, pumps, purifiers, steering gear, refrigeration, fresh water and sewage all sit here. Most modern ships run unmanned machinery spaces at night, with a duty engineer on call for the alarm panel.

1. 01 Chief Engineer Head of department. Answers for the whole machinery plant, bunkers, spares and the maintenance budget.
2. 02 Second Engineer Runs the engine room day to day — work planning, main engine and the watch rota.
3. 03 Third Engineer Usually the boilers, generators and fuel system.
4. 04 Fourth Engineer Usually purifiers, pumps, compressors and the bilge/ballast systems.
5. 05 Engine Cadet Trainee engineer accumulating workshop skills and sea time.

EXPLORE THE ENGINE SIDE →

CONTROL AND AUTOMATION

Electro-Technical Department

As ships became more automated, the electrical side grew into a department of its own. The ETO looks after main and emergency switchboards, generators and load sharing, motor starters, the alarm and monitoring system, cargo control instrumentation, and the bridge electronics — radar, ECDIS, gyro, GMDSS and increasingly the ship’s IT and cyber security.

1. 01 Electro-Technical Officer Certificated officer under STCW. Switchboards, automation, PLCs, bridge and cargo electronics.
2. 02 Electrician Ships without an ETO often carry an electrician instead, working under the Second Engineer.
3. 03 Electro-Technical Rating Support rating for electrical maintenance on larger or specialised vessels.

EXPLORE THE ETO ROLE →

THE WORKING CREW

Ratings

Ratings do the physical work of running a ship. On deck that means lookout duty on the bridge watch, mooring and unmooring, rigging gangways, chipping and painting, hold cleaning and lashing checks. Below it means assisting the engineers with maintenance, purifiers and machinery cleaning. The catering staff feed everyone, which on a long voyage matters more than any other single thing.

1. 01 Bosun Senior deck rating. Takes the Chief Officer’s work list and runs the deck gang.
2. 02 Able Seaman (AB) Certificated deck rating. Lookout, helmsman, mooring party, general maintenance.
3. 03 Ordinary Seaman (OS) Entry-level deck rating working toward AB certification.
4. 04 Fitter / Motorman Engine room ratings — welding, machining, and machinery assistance.
5. 05 Oiler / Wiper Engine room support: lubrication rounds, cleaning, storing spares.
6. 06 Cook & Steward Catering department. Provisions, meals and accommodation upkeep.

EXPLORE THE RATINGS →

THE FIRST CONTRACT

Cadets

A cadet is an officer in training, sponsored by a company or a maritime academy, sailing to complete the sea service that a first certificate of competency requires. The job is part apprenticeship and part examination: you work alongside the department, and you document it. Typically 12–18 months of sea time, then college, written exams and an oral examination before sailing as a junior officer.

1. 01 Deck Cadet Watchkeeping under supervision, cargo work, bridge equipment, seamanship tasks.
2. 02 Engine Cadet Watchkeeping in the machinery space, workshop practice, maintenance rounds.
3. 03 Training Record Book The signed-off evidence of every required task — the document your certificate depends on.
4. 04 Sea time Recorded on discharge certificates and verified by the flag administration.
5. 05 Certificate of Competency Awarded after exams and orals, allowing you to sail as a certificated officer.

EXPLORE CADET LIFE →

ASHORE

Ship Management

A ship rarely belongs to the company whose name is on the funnel. Ownership, commercial employment and technical management are often three separate businesses. Knowing which one is asking is how a Master works out whether an instruction is a request or an order.

1. 01 Owner Owns the asset. May do nothing else but finance and register the vessel.
2. 02 Technical Manager Runs the ship under the ISM Code — maintenance, certification, drydocking, budgets.
3. 03 Crew Manager Recruits, certifies and rotates the crew; handles contracts and travel.
4. 04 Charterer Employs the ship commercially and decides where and what it carries.
5. 05 Superintendent Shore engineer or marine superintendent attending ships and audits.
6. 06 DPA Designated Person Ashore — the crew’s direct line to the company on safety matters.
7. 07 Agent The company’s representative in each port, arranging everything alongside.

EXPLORE THE SHORE SIDE →

THE RULE BOOK

Maritime Regulations

Life on board is governed by a small stack of international conventions, enforced by three separate authorities: the flag state the ship is registered with, the port state it calls at, and the classification society that certifies its structure and machinery. Nearly every drill, checklist and logbook entry traces back to one of the documents below.

1. 01 SOLAS Safety of Life at Sea. Construction, life-saving appliances, fire protection, drills.
2. 02 MARPOL Pollution prevention — oil, chemicals, sewage, garbage and air emissions.
3. 03 STCW Training, certification and watchkeeping standards for every seafarer.
4. 04 ISM Code The safety management system a company must run, and the ship must follow.
5. 05 ISPS Code Ship and port security levels, access control and the ship security plan.
6. 06 MLC 2006 Seafarers’ employment rights — hours of rest, accommodation, food, repatriation.

EXPLORE THE GLOSSARY →