A career in merchant navy comes with world tours, adventures on oceans and seas with well-paid salary. This is the career stream, which steals the attention of endless youngsters.

Merchant navy career is different from the navy as it comes with commercial services. Navy on the other hand hugely dwells with defense work for the nation.

Merchant navies are the backbones for international trades that transport goods all over the world. Trading between countries would have been impossible if there were no merchant navies. Therefore merchant navy career is regarded as a prestigious job by many. It gives chances to go to new lands all around the world. This is why it is considered as satisfying and a challenging occupation.

Eligibility Criteria

Following is the eligibility criteria towards making a career in merchant navy:

• Completing class 12 with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics
• Aspiring candidates must be unmarried Indian citizens (male or female)
• Normal vision is required though spec power up to +-2.5 might be allowed
• The entrance test is conducted first and then screening test followed by a main written examination is done for admission
• Successful candidates are then subjected to interview round which is succeeded by medical test
• Before onboarding candidates to job roles, a ship training course is given. This in general is a short term course in which candidates learn the security concerns related to voyaging.

Private institutions are there delivering merchant training to the students, which prepare the students for deck cadet and marine engineering jobs.

Students completing class 12 are eligible to opt for the below-mentioned merchant navy courses:

• B.E. Civil Engineering
• B.E. Electrical & Electronics Engineering
• B.E. Harbour & Ocean Engineering
• B.Sc. Marine Catering
• B.E. Marine Engineering
• B.E. Mechanical Engineering
• B.Sc. Nautical Science
• B.E. Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering
• B.E. Petroleum Engineering
• Electro-Technical Officer Course

There are some merchant navy courses which can be pursued after class 10:

• Commercial Diving
• Diploma in Nautical Science (DNS)
• G.P. Rating
• Near Coastal Voyage (NCV)

Merchant Navy Entrance Examinations After Class 12

• Indian Maritime University Common Entrance Test (IMU CET)
• All Indian Merchant Navy Entrance Examination
• JEE
• MERI Entrance Examination
• TIMSAT

Eligibility Criteria For Appearing In The Examinations

• Successful completion of class 10
• Successful completion of class 12 with 60 percent in PCM

Students can apply for the examinations online. The examination is conducted on the MCQ pattern test that includes questions from Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, General Knowledge and Reasoning.

Employment Opportunities And Salary Quotient  

Huge employment chances are there in this field. Candidates who complete basic courses in merchant navy get jobs via various consultancies and placement agencies.

Merchant Navy group consists of cargo ships, container ships, barge carrying ships, tankers, bulk carriers, refrigerators ships, passenger ships, as well as roll-off/roll on ships. Candidates can find employment in cargo ships faster than others.

Some of the renowned companies in this bracket are Bibby Ship Management, Chevron and Mobil of USA, d'Amico, Denholm of UK, Wallem Ship Management of Hong Kong, K Line and more. Indian companies like Chowgule Shipping, Essar, Great Eastern Shipping and Shipping Corporation of India require men power in the deck, the engine and the service department. Indian government shipping organizations like Clearing Houses, Del Credere Agents and Corporation of India also hire merchant navy from time to time.

A merchant navy can earn upto INR 8 lakhs per month. However, the amount varies according to company pay structures, location, designation and trading need.

A junior engineer can earn INR 30000/month. Salary increases with each promotion and a chief engineer earns INR 1.5 lakh/month.

An officer’s salary is around INR 50000/month. The highest designation is captain that an officer can reach and it can earn INR 2 lakhs/month.

Job Designations Of Merchant Navy

• Catering & hospitality crew (pursers, stewards, chef, housekeeper etc.)
• Deck officer (navigation officer)
• Electro-technical officer (ETO)
• Engineer
• Ratings - Ratings are skilled seafarers who help all the officers with daily tasks