Deckhand
Deckhand
Career Overview
Sailors, or deckhands, operate and maintain the vessel and deck equipment. They make up the deck crew and keep all parts of a ship, other than areas related to the engine and motor, in good working order. New deckhands are called ordinary seamen and do the least complicated tasks. Experienced deckhands are called able seamen and usually make up most of a crew. Some large ships have a boatswain, who is the chief of the deck crew.
Education
Sailors and marine oilers usually do not need formal education. Ordinary seamen, wipers, and other entry-level mariners get on-the-job training for 6 months to a year. The length of training depends on the size and type of ship and waterway they work on. All mariners working on ships with U.S. flags must have a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) from the Transportation Security Administration. This credential states that a person is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and has passed a security screening. The TWIC must be renewed every 5 years. Mariners who work on ships traveling on the open ocean require the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STWC) endorsement.
Future Outlook
Overall employment of water transportation workers is projected to show little or no change from 2019 to 2029.
Work Environment
Water transportation workers usually work for long periods and can be exposed to all kinds of weather.
Recommended High School Courses
- Communication
- Domestic vessel safety
- Marine emergency duties
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Depth Perception - The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Dynamic Strength - The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Extent Flexibility - The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.
- Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Multilimb Coordination - The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Rate Control - The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Reaction Time - The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Static Strength - The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Trunk Strength - The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without 'giving out' or fatiguing.
- Navigate water vessels.
- Position animal trapping or capture equipment.
- Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
- Capture or kill animals.
- Locate animals for fishing or hunting purposes.
- Package agricultural products for shipment or further processing.
- Sort forestry or agricultural materials.
- Communicate with other workers to coordinate activities.
- Direct activities of agricultural, forestry, or fishery employees.
- Hire farming, fishing or forestry workers.
- Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
- Attach equipment extensions or accessories.
- Plan trapping or hunting activities.
- Transport animals, crops, or equipment.
- Sell agricultural products.
- Clean equipment or facilities.
- Monitor financial activities.
- Maintain operational records.
- Load agricultural or forestry products for shipment.
- Estimate labor or resource requirements for forestry, fishing, or agricultural operations.
- Promote agricultural or hunting activities.
- Treat animal injuries or illnesses.
References
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.