Job Duties of a Merchant Marine
The merchant marines are civilian crews that are primarily responsible for any given nation's shipping fleet. The actual people who work and operate the vessel can be referred to as merchant seamen or merchant marines, depending on the country. According to 2005 figures provided by the CIA World Factbook, the total number of merchant ships operating in the world was 30,936.
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Deck Department
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People working on the deck department are in charge of the general day-to-day operations of the ship. These job duties include administrative and functional aspects of operations and tasks.
Engineering
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The engineering department is responsible for operating and maintaining all of the systems aboard the ship including technical and propulsion. They also handle the water and lighting systems, sewage and air conditioning.
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Stewards
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Stewards are responsible for handling the preparation of meals, cleaning and maintenance. Many ships also have this section divided between janitorial and catering departments.
Medical
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Every ship, according to United States regulations, must feature a medical staff. This generally consists of a medical doctor and a variety of other physicians and nurses.
Communications
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Although most merchant marine vessels use satellite communications as of the early twenty-first century, many still maintain radio officers in the event of emergency.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Randy C. Bunney, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ovrseas_alice.jpg
