10 Merchant Navy Myths and Misconceptions Cleared Up

Life is …not as you picture in the merchant navy. There are certainly some glamorous things, and some pretty grueling stuff. But the people who do not work directly in this extraordinary line of career have few ideas about what really goes on in the merchant navy. 

These huge cargo liners carry a lot of tall tales too. Source: unsplash

So here we are today, debunking the 10 most common myths and misconceptions about the merchant navy. Some of these myths are about ship board life, some are about ship management, and some are technical matters that a non-technical person shouldn’t be hyping up anyway. Let’s go and see what they are!

Myth 1. You have to be a great swimmer to join the merchant navy.

Fact: No, you’re not. An ocean is big, really big, so big that you have very little idea about what it can do to you if you’re going to rely on your own body only. Not even a channel crosser can do much in the middle of the Indian Ocean. There are plenty of modern, scientific ways to save your life other than to rely on muscles like life jackets and lines.

Myth 2. You can travel around so many new places and countries.

Fact: It is true that ships visit many ports, but the crew has very little freedom or time — or money — to tour the places they visit. The maximum they can do is to visit a few spots in the port city, much of which end up being clubs or bars. Sure, if you have the cash and the shore leave time, then you can do a bit of touring on your own — but that’s not very common.

Myth 3. You can get out of the navy anytime and take a shore job.

Fact: This is not even close to the reality of the crew, especially those that are not directly involved in ship management. Your skills as a sailor are pretty much useless on the shore; you have to get to at least 2nd engineer/ chief officer rank till your experience and skills mean anything to the land-lubbers.

Myth 4. You have to have perfect eyesight to join the merchant navy.

Fact: If your eyes are not too bad, you can wear glasses and join the merchant navy. You’re fine by the merchant navy if you have 6/6 vision and no color blindness. If your vision is 6/12, then you can even be an officer.

Myth 5. More often than not you don’t get a sponsored course at a ship, you just get a sponsored seat as a trainee.

Fact: This varies wildly from institute to institute, and nobody can scam you as boldly as that if you just read the damn brochure. Go through the terms and conditions carefully, and nimbly sidestep any misleading advertisement. Know what exactly you are getting for your buck.

Myth 6. Your placement at the merchant navy is 100% guaranteed.

Fact: Oh, I so wish that this was anything close to the truth! The demand for civilian maritime jobs has grown up and this sector is suffering from scarcity of jobs and an overflow of talent — just as in any other sector. No, you won’t have anything spoon-fed to you.

Myth 7. When you get to be an officer, you can take your family onboard ships at any time.

Fact: Are you kidding me? It is still a ship and that has to be run with iron discipline, you know. Only a greatly experienced office directly into ship management can take their family onboard most vessels. Oh, it’s another story for the cruise ships, of course, those are more like floating hotels. The rules can be well bent there.

Myth 8. (As advertised) You will earn a ton of money within a very short time.

Fact: It will take you at least three to five years to establish any respectable salary package, and you can’t truly make real tons of money until you’ve given at least a decade of your life into merchant navy diligently.

Myth 9. In the merchant navy you can get a regular salary even when you are on shore leave.

Fact: Each trip is a contract and the “shore leave” is only the time in  between contracts. The contracts pay for only the duration of the contract, that is, the time you are in direct service onboard or related. 

Myth 10. Sailing for shipping companies is a permanent job.

Fact: No, it is not. Most of the positions in the merchant navy are contract work that lasts as long as the ship is on water. There are some year-round contracts as well. But there is no such “job guarantee” as the advertisers would have you think so.