I would think that the job of a Merchant Marine would be ideal for a single guy…traveling around the world, visiting hundreds of ports, etc. With the recent pirate story in the news, it seemed that the majority of the men had families back here in the States. That said, what kind of family life do these guys enjoy? Do they sign on for one round trip and then head home? Do they stay away for months at a time? Are there single guys who spend all their time on the high seas? Second question…any idea what kind of pay these guys are making, from the deck hand on up to the Captain?
This isn’t about the ocean, but I knew a guy who when he was younger, worked on “lakers” in the Great Lakes. He would spend several months out of the year doing nothing but working and living aboard the boat, letting his money accumulate, then spend the rest of the year in Miami, living it up, renting a swanky apartment, driving a flashy car, partying, etc. Then he would go back to Michigan and work on the lakers again. He did this for a good portion of his twenties and seemed to really enjoy it.
IANA expert, but …
Most crewmen on most ocean-going ships are folks from the third world. That implies the pay works for them, but not for, say, a German or an American.
Modern oil tankers can go many voyages back & forth without ever docking at anything except a bouy 20 miles offshore. Probably not a lot of hot in-port action for those crewmembers.
Per Discovery Channel (crappy source, but this one factoid is probably close), a modern container ship spends 18-24 hours in port swapping containers & is then underway again. It doesn’t make money unless it’s moving.
Since modern ships have very small crews (~15 people total working 3 shifts of 5 people each), many of them will be needed on duty while the ship is in port to work on replenishing food, water, fuel, etc. So not much chance to get away & see the sights before getting out on the ocean again for another 2 weeks.
Working a tramp steamer up & down the coast of South America sounds totally cool. In the 1950s. It seems to me that since then they’ve squeezed most of the romance & adventure out of the job in the name of efficiency.