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Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels

General Information

Description

Command or supervise operations of ships and water vessels, such as tugboats and ferryboats. Required to hold license issued by U.S. Coast Guard.

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Workplace at a Glance

What you can expect to experience while on the job

  • Responsibility
  • Exposure to job hazards
  • Physical activity
  • Decision making
  • Repetitiveness
  • Level of competition
  • Time pressure

Industry areas

  • Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

Job Outlook

Overall employment of water transportation workers is projected to show little or no change from 2021 to 2031. Despitelimitedemployment growth, about 8,700 openings for water transportation workers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

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Job Outlook

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Overall employment of water transportation workers is projected to show little or no change from 2021 to 2031. Despitelimitedemployment growth, about 8,700 openings for water transportation workers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

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Salary

Average Salary

Salary

$81,640

Military salary*

$86,508

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State-by-state Salary

Gray states indicate no data available

$104,020
$32,360
No Information for this section

Education

Most Common Education Levels

People in this career achieve this level of education.

  • High school 41%
  • Post-secondary certificate 36%
  • Bachelor's degree 8%
  • Some college 5%
  • Less than high school 4%
  • Associate's degree 2%
  • Master's degree 0%
  • Doctoral degree 0%
  • Post baccalaureate 0%
  • Post-doctoral training 0%
  • Post-master's certificate 0%
  • First professional degree 0%

Related College Majors

Select major to see colleges that offer it

Knowledge

  • Transportation
  • Mechanical
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Geography
  • Customer and Personal Service

Skills at a Glance

Skills helpful in this career

  • Verbal skills
  • Critical thinking & problem solving
  • Equipment operation & maintenance
  • Math & science skills
  • Technology design & control
  • Leadership
No Information for this section

* Military pay may be higher based on specialty pays or bonuses. Learn more about Military benefits.

Data supplied by Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Center of Education Statistics, Defense Manpower Data Center (View our update schedule). Contact any business, college or military service branch to answer additional questions.