Marine Deck Officers and Crew are focused on the navigation, safety and regulatory compliance of an offshore drilling ship. A rigging crew can’t operate on its own – they need the support of a highly trained crew handling radar and navigation systems to avoid collisions.

What a typical day looks like:

Driven by routine and a highly structured environment, everyone on a drill ship Marine Deck Crew has a job to do – handling the anchors, operating mooring systems, towing, navigating the ship and maintaining its safety. Every crew member knows the ropes (literally). Marine Deck Officers oversee the activities of the Marine Deck Crew, which include everything from operations and maintenance to safety procedures.

Employed by marine services and large oil and gas exploration and production companies, the daily life of a Marine Deck Officer and Crew member involves the complexities of life at sea. Working closely with the rest of the crew, they need to have sea legs and be prepared to work extended shifts, sometimes several weeks long.

The kinds of problems Marine Deck Officers and Crew solve at work:

The ocean presents a variety of unique hazards that the crew needs to be prepared for. For example, crew might be offloading deck cargo when a huge wind sets in, causing giant waves to splash over the side of the deck. Crew members would need to safely hook slings onto an enormous piece of drilling equipment and redeploy anchors during a mooring operation, all while on a moving platform.

Skills used most on the job:

Marine Deck Officers and Crew need both problem-solving skills and physical abilities. From overseeing the ship’s safety from collisions with other vessels to outfitting it with large complex equipment, they also draw on their intelligence, teamwork and mechanical aptitude.

Having been trained in firefighting and emergency evacuation, Marine Deck Officers and Crew also need to operate safety equipment, such as fire extinguishers, lifeboats and emergency shutdown systems. They know how to inspect the ship’s structures, doors and hallways to ensure compliance in areas like watertight integrity.

Marine Deck Officers and Crew keep the day-to-day operations of any ship sailing smoothly. They look after the navigation, ship maintenance and safety so that the other workers can focus on the jobs they need to do throughout the day.

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