From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Merchant Navy, also known as the "merchant marine", is a class of seagoing vessels owned and operated by civilian companies, as opposed to the single word Navy, which denotes fighting ships owned and operated by the military arms of sovereign countries. In times of conflict, merchant ships may sometimes officially complement the navy. Specifically in English, "Merchant Navy" without further clarification is used to refer to the British Merchant Navy; the United States merchant fleet is known as the United States Merchant Marine.

Contents 1 Merchant ships 1.1 Modern ship types 1.2 Modern merchant fleets 2 British Merchant Navy 2.1 See also 3 United States Merchant Marine 3.1 History 3.2 Shipboard personnel 3.2.1 Deck department 3.2.2 Engineering department 3.2.3 Steward's department 3.2.4 Other departments 4 Canadian Merchant Navy 5 Life at sea 6 Notable mariners 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 9.1 Historical 9.2 Educational and professional

Most modern merchant ships can be placed in one of a few categories, such as:

	Bulk carriers are cargo ships used to transport bulk cargo items such as ore or food staples (rice, grain, etc.) and similar cargo. It can be recognized by the large box-like hatches on its deck, designed to slide outboard for loading. A bulk carrier could be either dry or wet. Most lakes are too small to accommodate bulk ships, but a large fleet of lake freighters has been plying the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway of North America for over a century.
	Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport. Informally known as "box boats," they carry the majority of the world's dry cargo. Most container ships are propelled by diesel engines, and have crews of between 20 and 40 people. They generally have a large accommodation block at the stern, directly above the engine room. Container ships now carry up to 15,000 containers on a voyage.
	Tankers are cargo ships for the transport of fluids, such as crude oil, petroleum products, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas and chemicals, also vegetable oils, wine and other food - the tanker sector comprises one third of the world tonnage.
	Reefer ships are cargo ships typically used to transport perishable commodities which require temperature-controlled transportation, mostly fruits, meat, fish, vegetables, dairy products and other foodstuffs.
	Roll-on/roll-off ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trailers or railway carriages. RORO vessels have built-in ramps which allow the cargo to be efficiently "rolled on" and "rolled off" the vessel when in port. While smaller ferries that operate across rivers and other short distances still often have built-in ramps, the term RORO is generally reserved for larger ocean-going vessels.
	Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters, are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where sea-going ships usually cannot (sea-going ships have a very deep hull for supplies and trade etc.).
	Ferries are a form of transport, usually a boat or ship, but also other forms, carrying (or ferrying) passengers and sometimes their vehicles. Ferries are also used to transport freight (in lorries and sometimes unpowered freight containers) and even railroad cars. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services. A foot-passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, is sometimes called a waterbus or water taxi. Ferries form a part of the public transport systems of many waterside cities and islands, allowing direct transit between points at a capital cost much lower than bridges or tunnels.
	Cruise ships are passenger ships used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are considered an essential part of the experience. Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry, with millions of passengers each year as of 2006. The industry's rapid growth has seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American clientele added every year since 2001, as well as others servicing European clientele. Smaller markets such as the Asia-Pacific region are generally serviced by older tonnage displaced by new ships introduced into the high growth areas.
	Cable layer is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electricity, and such. A large superstructure, and one or more spools that feed off the transom distinguish it.
	A tugboat is a boat used to manoeuvre, primarily by towing or pushing other vessels (see shipping) in harbours, over the open sea or through rivers and canals. They are also used to tow barges, disabled ships, or other equipment like towboats.
	A dredger is a ship used to excavate in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location.
	A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Most barges are not self-propelled and need to be moved by tugboats towing or towboats pushing them. Barges on canals (towed by draft animals on an adjacent towpath) contended with the railway in the early industrial revolution but were outcompeted in the carriage of high value items due to the higher speed, falling costs, and route flexibility of rail transport.

Ships do exist that fall outside these categories, such as Semi-submersible heavy-lift ships. Many of the world's largest 'Mega' yachts are built and registered as Merchant Ships (either cargo ships if they are over 3000 gross tonnes or passenger ships if they are designed to carry more than 12 passengers) and are manned by certified merchant navy officers.

Most countries of the world operate fleets of merchant ships. However, due to the high costs of operations, today these fleets are in many cases sailing under the flags of nations that specialize in providing manpower and services at favourable terms. Such flags are known as "flags of convenience". Currently, Liberia and Panama are particularly favoured. Ownership of the vessels can be by any country, however.

The Greek-owned fleet of 2,426 ships^[1] is the largest in the world. Today, with some 18 per cent^[2] of the world’s tonnage, the Greek fleet is currently the largest single international merchant fleet in the world. However, in terms of percentage of total world tonnage, it is not the most dominant there has ever been. For example, the 1911 Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica^[3] shows the United Kingdom and her colonies as holding almost 49% of the world's shipping tonnage.

For the United Kingdom, prior to the end of the First World War when she sailed more than half of the world's tonnage, it was known as the Merchant Service, and became the Merchant Navy by a Royal Proclamation of King George V, in recognition of the fact that the service sailed valiantly alongside the Royal Navy's fighting ships. British ships fly the Red Ensign, more familiarly known as the "Red Duster", at the stern.

A person hoping to one day become a Captain, or Master, prior to about 1973, had five choices. To attend one of the three elite naval schools from the age of 12, the fixed-base HMS Conway and HMS Worcester or Pangbourne Nautical College, which would automatically lead to an apprenticeship as a sea-going cadet officer; apply to one of several training programmes elsewhere, or go to sea immediately by applying directly to a merchant shipping company at perhaps the age of 17 (with poor prospects of being accepted without some nautical school or other similar prior education.) Then there would be three years (with prior training or four years without) of seagoing experience aboard ship, in work-clothes and as mates with the deck crew, under the direction of the bo'sun cleaning bilges, chipping paint, polishing brass, cement washing freshwater tanks, and holystoning teak decks, and studying navigation and seamanship on the bridge in uniform, under the direction of an officer, before taking exams to become a second mate. With luck, one could become an "uncertificated" 2nd mate in the last year. The modern route to becoming a Deck Officer compises of a total of 3 1/2 years (notably longer than sandhurst and dartmouth combined), of which at least one is spent at sea and the remaining at a sea college. This training still emcopmasses all the traditional trades without computation, such as celestial navigation, ship stability, general cargo and seamanship. whilst at the same time training in modern legislation, law, computerisation and technical aspects of a ship. Another essential seagoing career was that of the radio officer (or R/O, but usually "sparks"), employed and placed by the Marconi Company. After the inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and the nearby SS Californian which did not render assistance due to their radio being down for the night, it was ordered that round-the-clock watch had to be maintained on all ships over 1600 GT. Today, Marconi no longer supplies radio officers to ships at sea, because they are no longer required, due to the development of satellites. Deck officers are now dual trained as GMDSS officers thereby being able to use all the ships communication systems. Comsat launched their first commercial satellite in 1976 and by the mid 1980s satellite communication domes had become a familiar sight at sea. The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System or GMDSS was introduced and by 1 February 1999, all ships had to be fitted, thus bringing to an end the position of radio officer.

This has led to a new career path, the recently introduced Electro-Technical Officer (ETO), who is a trained engineer with qualifications to assist the mechanical engineer to maintain vital electronic equipment such as radios and RADARs. ETOs are marine engineers given extra training. Although ETOs are relatively new, many companies are beginning to employ them, (although mechanical engineers are still employed).

Ship crews are of course made up of others, working under the eyes of the officers; the deck crew and bo'sun, responsible for general maintenance, sailing "before the mast", (which, due to exaggerated pitching motion in bad weather, is the least comfortable part of the ship). Other duties aboard ship are performed by the ship's carpenter, the cooks, the stewards, the quartermaster who steers the ship, and the below-decks crew, often referred to as "greasers". Ocean-going vessels with more than 12 passengers are required to have a doctor aboard. For ships of the British Merchant Navy on foreign service, interestingly, it used to be that each of these departments were peopled with ethnically based workers. The deck crew would often be Malay, the quartermasters Filipino, the greasers and stewards Indian, the cooks Indian but from Goa where, being Christian, they could prepare Western style food, and the ship's carpenter ("chippy") would often be Chinese. The officers would be British or Commonwealth, headed by the Captain (or Master, but more often referred to as "the old man"). The Purser was in charge of the ship's stores. Nowadays, ships have turnaround times of less than twenty-four hours instead of several days, due to containerisation, requiring a much smaller crew. The passenger liners that once transported people now ply the oceans for pleasure seekers, cargo ships have switched to containers using efficient shoreside cranes instead of the ship's derricks, and tankers have become monsters.

Sailing on the high seas has a long history, with embedded traditions largely inherited from the days of sail. Because of the ever-present concerns of safety for crew and passengers, the layers of authority are rigid, discipline strict, and mutiny almost unknown. The romantic lure for those "going down to the sea in ships" is less than it was.

Merchant mariners are held in high esteem as a result of their extraordinary losses in times of war. The ships were often "sitting ducks" in the sights of enemy combatants, as some of the following links will help illustrate.

• Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea

The United States Merchant Marine comprise the merchant ships that are used to transport both imports and exports during peace time and serves as an auxiliary to the United States Navy during times of war, delivering both troops and supplies to the military, as well as goods for the welfare of the country, under hazardous conditions, usually by convoy. The Merchant Marine is civilian except in times of war, when they are effectively considered military personnel governed under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. A merchant mariner is a seafarer or mariner in the United States Merchant Marine.

The history of ships and shipping in North America goes back at least as far as the first European contact with the Americas, when Leif Erikson established a short-lived settlement called Vinland in present day Newfoundland. The existence of an actual shipping industry gradually came into being. In the 15th century, Europeans brought horses, cattle and hogs to the Americas.

Spanish colonies began to form in places like St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and later Santa Fe, New Mexico, San Antonio, Tucson, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Most Spanish settlements were along the California coast or the Sante Fe River in New Mexico. English colonies like Jamestown started forming as early as 1607. The connection between the American colonies and Europe, with shipping as its cornerstone, would continue to grow unhindered for almost two hundred years.

The United States Merchant Marine's first role in war took place June 12, 1775 when a group of Machias, Maine citizens, after hearing the news of what happened in Concord and Lexington, boarded and captured the schooner British warship HMS Margaretta. They were in need of critical supplies and were given the ultimatum that they either load up ships with lumber to be brought to Boston to make British barracks and receive their much needed supplies or go hungry. If they complied with Lieutenant Moore of the British Navy they betrayed the American cause so they chose to fight! After word reached Boston of this courageous feat, the Continental Congress and the various colonies issued Letters of Marque to privately owned, armed merchant ships known as privateers, which were outfitted as warships to prey on enemy merchant ships. They interrupted the British supply chain all along the eastern seaboard of the United States and across the Atlantic Ocean and the Merchant Marine's role in war began. This predates both the United States Coast Guard (1790) and the United States Navy (1797).

The Merchant Marine was active in subsequent wars, from the Confederate commerce raiders of the Civil War, to the First and Second Battle of the Atlantic in World War I and World War II. 3.1 million tons of merchant ships were lost in World War II, mariners dying at a rate of 1 in 24. All told, 733 American cargo ships were lost^[4] and 8,651 of the 215,000 who served perished on troubled waters and off enemy shores.

Merchant shipping also played its role in the wars in Vietnam and Korea. From just six ships under charter when the Korean war began, this total peaked at 255. In September 1950, when the U.S. Marine Corps went ashore at Inchon, 13 USNS cargo ships, 26 chartered American, and 34 Japanese-manned merchant ships, under the operational control of Military Sea Transportation Service participated in the invasion.

During the Vietnam War, ships crewed by civilian seamen carried 95 percent of the supplies used by our Armed Forces. Many of these ships sailed into combat zones under fire. In fact, the SS Mayaguez incident involved the capture of mariners from the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez.^[5]

Government chartered, civilian manned ships are just one way that merchant mariners are participating in current hostilities and being recognized for their contributions. For example, in late 2003, Vice Adm. David Brewer III, commander of Military Sealift Command, awarded the officers and crewmembers of the Motor Vessel Bennett the Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal.^[6]

Seafarers hold a variety of professions and ranks, each of which carry unique responsibilities which are integral to the successful operation of a seafaring vessel. A ship's complement can generally be divided into four main categories: the deck department, the engineering department, the steward's department, and other.

Officer positions in the deck department include but not limited to: Master and his Chief, Second, and Third officers. The official classifications for unlicensed members of the deck department are Able Seaman and Ordinary Seaman.

A common deck crew for a ship includes:

• (1) Chief Officer/Chief Mate
• (1) Second Officer /Second Mate
• (1) Third Officer / Third Mate
• (1) Boatswain
• (2-6) Able Seamen
• (0-2) Ordinary Seamen

A ship's engineering department consists of the members of a ship's crew that operate and maintain the propulsion and other systems onboard the vessel. Marine Engineering staff also deal with the "Hotel" facilities onboard, notably the sewage, lighting, air conditioning and water systems. They deal with bulk fuel transfers, and require training in firefighting and first aid, as well as in dealing with the ship's boats and other nautical tasks- especially with cargo loading/discharging gear and safety systems, though the specific cargo discharge function remains the responsibility of deck officers and deck workers.

A common Engineering crew for a ship includes:

• (1) Chief Engineer
• (1) Second Engineer / First Assistant Engineer
• (1) Third Engineer / Second Assistant Engineer
• (1-2) Fourth Engineer / Third Assistant Engineer
• (0-2) Fifth Engineer / Junior Engineer
• (1-3) Oiler (unlicenced qualified rating)
• (0-3) Greaser/s (unlicensed qualified rating)
• (1-5) Entry-level rating (such as Wiper (occupation), Utilityman, etc)

American ships also carry a Qualified Member of the Engine Department. Other possible positions include Motorman, Machinist, Electrician, Refrigration Engineer, and Tankerman.

A typical Steward's department for a cargo ship would be comprised of a Chief Steward, a Chief Cook, and a Steward's Assistant. All three positions are typically filled by unlicensed personnel.

The chief steward directs, instructs, and assigns personnel performing such functions as preparing and serving meals; cleaning and maintaining officers' quarters and steward department areas; and receiving, issuing, and inventorying stores.

The chief steward also plans menus; compiles supply, overtime, and cost control records. May requisition or purchase stores and equipment. May bake bread, rolls, cakes, pies, and pastries.

A chief steward's duties may overlap with those of the Steward's Assistant, the Chief Cook, and other Steward's Department crewmembers.

In the United States Merchant Marine, in order to be occupied as a chief steward a person has to have a Merchant Mariner's Document issued by the United States Coast Guard. Because of international conventions and agreements, all chief cooks who sail internationally are similarly documented by their respective countries.

Various types of staff officer positions may exist on board a ship, including Junior Assistant Purser, Senior Assistant Purser, Purser, Chief Purser, Medical Doctor, Professional Nurse, Marine Physician Assistant, and Hospital Corpsman, are considered administrative positions and are therefore regulated by Certificates of Registry issued by the United States Coast Guard. Pilots are also merchant marine officers and are licensed by the Coast Guard.

Canada, like several other Commonwealth nations created its own Merchant Navy in a large-scale effort in World War Two. The Canadian Merchant Navy played a major role in the Battle of the Atlantic bolstering the allies merchant fleet due to high losses in the British Merchant Navy. Eventually thousands of Canadians served in the Merchant Navy aboard hundreds of Canadian merchant ships, notably the "Park Ships", the Canadian equivalent of the American "Liberty Ship". A school at St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia trained Canadian merchant mariners. "Manning Pools", Merchant Navy barracks were built in Canadian ports. Considered a fourth branch of the Canadian military, after the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force, the Canadian Merchant Navy suffered a higher casualty rate of the four services. Sadly, after the war, Canadian Merchant Navy veterans were denied veterans benefits and official recognition for decades. This injustice was not corrected until the 1990s and many individual cases remain unresolved.

Mariners live on the margins of society, with much of their life spent beyond the reach of land. They face cramped, stark, noisy, and sometimes dangerous conditions at sea. Yet men and women still go to sea. For some, the attraction is a life unencumbered with the restraints of life ashore. Sea-going adventure and a chance to see the world also appeal to many seafarers. Whatever the calling, those who live and work at sea invariably confront social isolation.

Findings by the Seafarer's International Research Center indicate a leading cause of mariners leaving the industry is "almost invariably because they want to be with their families." U.S. merchant ships typically do not allow family members to accompany seafarers on voyages. Industry experts increasingly recognize isolation, stress, and fatigue as occupational hazards. Advocacy groups such as International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, and the Nautical Institute are seeking improved international standards for mariners.

Ocean voyages are steeped in routine. Maritime tradition dictates that each day be divided into six four-hour periods. Three groups of watchkeepers from the engine and deck departments work four hours on then have eight hours off watchkeeping. However there are many overtime jobs to be done daily. This cycle repeats endlessly, 24 hours a day while the ship is at sea. Members of the steward department typically are day workers who put in at least eight-hour shifts. Operations at sea, including repairs, safeguarding against piracy, securing cargo, underway replenishment, and other duties provide opportunities for overtime work. One’s service aboard ships typically extends for months at a time, followed by protracted shore leave. However, some seamen secure jobs on ships they like and stay aboard for years.

In rare cases, veteran mariners choose never to go ashore when in port. Further, the often quick turnaround of many modern ships, spending only a matter of hours in port, limits a seafarer's free-time ashore. Moreover, some foreign seamen entering U.S. ports from a watchlist of 25 high-risk countries face restrictions on shore leave due to security concerns in a post 9/11 environment. However, shore leave restrictions while in U.S. ports impact American seamen as well. For example, the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots notes a trend of U.S. shipping terminal operators restricting seamen from traveling from the ship to the terminal gate. Further, in cases where transit is allowed, special "security fees" are at times assessed.

Such restrictions on shore leave coupled with reduced time in port by many ships translate into longer periods at sea. Mariners report that extended periods at sea living and working with shipmates who for the most part are strangers takes getting used to. At the same time, there is an opportunity to meet people from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Recreational opportunities have improved aboard some U.S. ships, which may feature gyms and day rooms for watching movies, swapping sea stories, and other activities. And in some cases, especially tankers, it is made possible for a mariner to be accompanied by members of his family. However, a mariner’s off duty time is largely a solitary affair, pursuing hobbies, reading, writing letters, and sleeping.

Further information: List of notable mariners

Merchant seamen have gone on to make their mark on the world in a number of interesting ways. Traian Băsescu, who started his career as a third mate in 1976 is now the President of Romania. Arthur Phillip joined the Merchant Navy in 1751 and thirty seven years later founded the city of Sydney, Australia. Merchant mariner Douglass North went from seaman to navigator to winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Members of the British Royal Navy have won the Distinguished Service Cross, and have had careers taking them from 'Deck Boy Peter' to Air Marshal Sir Beresford Peter Torrington Horsley KCB, CBE, LVO, AFC. Canadian merchant seamen have won the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Honor. American merchant seamen have won the Medal of Honor in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and one went on to become the "Father of the American Navy." One doesn't have to look far to find merchant seamen who became war heroes in Scotland, France, New Zealand, Peru, or Denmark.

Since World War II, a number of merchant seamen have become notorious criminals. American William Colepaugh was convicted as a Nazi spy in World War II and Fritz Sauckel was convicted as a Nazi war criminal. Briton Duncan Scott-Ford was hanged for treachery in World War II. George Hennard was an American mass murderer who claimed twenty-four victims on a rampage at Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. And Perry Smith's own murderous rampage was made famous in Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.

Mariners are well represented in the visual arts. French pilot's assistant Paul Gauguin would later become a leading post-impressionist painter and pioneered the Synthetist style of modern art. American seaman Haskell Wexler would later win two Academy Awards, the latter for a biography of his shipmate Woody Guthrie. British Merchant Navy member Ken Russell would later go on to direct films such as Tommy, Altered States, and The Lair of the White Worm. Merchant seaman Johnny Craig was already a working comic book artist before he joined up, but Ernie Schroeder wouldn't start drawing comics until after returning home from World War II.

Merchant sailors have also made a splash in the world of sport. In football, with Fred Blackburn in England and the likes of Dan Devine and Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich in the U.S. In track and field, American seamen Cornelius Cooper Johnson and Jim Thorpe both won Olympic medals, though Thorpe didn't get his until thirty years after his death. Seamen Jim Bagby, Jr. and Charlie Keller went on to Major League Baseball. Drew Bundini Brown was Muhammad Ali's assistant trainer and cornerman, and Joe Gold went on to make his fortune as the bodybuilding and fitness guru of Gold's Gym.

Other sporting notables include Edwin Stratton the founder of Yoshinkan UK, Dutchman Henk de Velde known for sailing solo around the world, and Briton Matthew Webb who was the first person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aid.

Irish Merchant Navy member Kevin McClory spent 14 days in a lifeboat and later went on to write the James Bond movies Never Say Never Again and Thunderball. Members of the American Beat movement Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Bob Kaufman, and Herbert Huncke were all Merchant Mariners.

It's perhaps not surprising that the writers of Moby Dick, The American Practical Navigator, and Two Years Before the Mast were Merchant Mariners. It might be surprising that the writers of Borat, A Hard Day's Night, and Cool Hand Luke were.

Seamen always complain about leaving their girlfriends ashore, but imagine how James Dougherty felt, leaving his seventeen year old wife Marilyn Monroe on the beach. Merchant Navy steward Freddie Lennon had a surprise when he returned home to find he had a newborn son. That son would later found The Beatles.

A number of U.S. Merchant Mariners from World War II ended up playing well known television characters. The list includes Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, Archie Bunker on All in the Family, Columbo on Columbo, Jim Rockford on The Rockford Files, Steve McGarret on Hawaii Five-O, Uncle Jesse Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard, and Cheyenne Bodie on Cheyenne.

• List of merchant marine capacity by country
• List of maritime colleges
• List of notable mariners
• Marlag und Milag Nord
• Silver Line: History of the fortunes of a typical British shipping company

• British Merchant Navy Association
• International Merchant Marine Community
• Merchant Navy Association of Northern Ireland
• International Mercantile Marine Forum / People Search
• Missions to Seamen-Flying Angel Clubs
• SwissWorld: The Swiss Merchant Navy
• The Chamber of Shipping
• The Marine Society (a charity)

• Official database of deceased Canadian Merchant Mariners
• Australian Merchant Navy: Second World War
• New Zealand Merchant Navy: Second World War
• Canada Merchant Navy: Second World War
• Photos of the Merchant Marine Memorials in London
• Tramp Steamers and Liberty Gallery

• The Marine Society College of the Sea
• Careers at Sea
• The Maritime Trade Union
• The Merchant Navy Training Board
• United States Coast Guard - Merchant mariner documentation and licensing
• United States Merchant Marine Academy

		Typical Shipping Occupations
←Junior    Unlicensed				Senior→    Licensed
Deck:	Ordinary Seaman	Able Seaman	Boatswain • Carpenter	3rd Mate • 2nd Mate • Chief Mate	Captain • Pilot
Engine:	Wiper • Oiler	QMED	Electrician	3rd Engr • 2nd Engr • 1st Engr	Chief Engineer
Steward:	Steward's Assistant	Chief Cook	Chief Steward	Purser