All students consider the Senior Secondary Certificate as their turning point of life.  They have to plan for the future.  After the Higher Secondary Certificate, students are faced with several options.   colleges and universities offer many courses.  We are going to give you a small glimpse here of why you should take care of your career as a merchant navy.  Before going further let us see how this industry is running the world economy.

  The shipping industry is one of our oldest industries and still plays an important role in our modern society.  Today, more than 55 000 cargo ships are active in international trade.  The fleet represents over 150 countries, with more than 1.5 million sailors working around the world.  The different types of goods being transported are goods for consumers, food, raw materials, cars, and fuel, just to name a few.



  Now on our main subject, myself is a sailing engineer and all that I am presenting here is my own experience.  I am sharing this with you so that you can take your time and think whether you are comfortable with the culture working in this field.


5 reasons to join Merchant Navy:-
  1. Challenging and rewarding life at sea.  - If you are a lover of beautiful open sky, amazing, happiness, and peaceful sunrise and sunset.  If you are dreaming of an adventurous life, then this merchant navy is a good career opportunity for you.  Here, the career of merchant marines is like a day to day adventure.  Apart from your work hours, you will get ample time to enjoy the beautiful nature in the open sea, in high waves and in different conditions the sea offers various experiences of a highly adventurous type.
  2. Salary with no tax - This is one of the great benefits of this profession that people involved in merchant marines are exempt from paying taxes if they meet the requirements required for the purposes of the exemption.  Here in India, if you complete your 183 days with Indian water, then you will get an exemption from income tax.  This 183-day NRI Day Rule is for everyone, but this merchant navy profession will provide your NRI status with ease as this career has engaged you internationally.
  3. Comparatively higher salaries - It is a fact that the maritime sector is a highly paid career.  The sector paid higher salaries due to more responsibility and thrill than other careers.  Salary starts at around the US $ 1,500 and ranges up to around the US $ 3,000 per month.  This salary also varies from company to company and ship to ship.
  4. Early settlement and luxurious lifestyle - This profession offers you a higher salary than starting your job, plus you can organize and organize your life faster than other jobs.  Because settlement is the basic money and you can get out of this profession quickly.  And with a high salary and early settlement you can make your lifestyle luxurious after plush settlements in other parts of your life.
  5. The confluence of cultures - This profession gives you the opportunity to travel around the world and work with crew and officers from different countries and states on the same ship.  In this meeting and working together we get to know about different cultures and religions of different places and states.  It automatically enhances adaptability and brings different types of people with their living style, ability to think and work, and greater awareness of different places and countries.

5 reasons for not joining the Merchant Navy:
  1. Away from home and social life - After joining this field everyone wants to finish their training period as soon as possible, so they prefer long contracts and they earn more money after training for initial settlement  Use long contracts for.  And these decisions distance them from social life.  Working on a ship turns you away from your home.  Most jobs require you to move away from your home.  For social communication, some good companies are providing free internet onboard.  Even at the management level, you can keep your family on the ship with you.
  2. Less shore leave, hectic schedules, and hijacking - the region offers the opportunity to travel around the world, but nowadays in some ships such as large tankers, loading them via SPM (single point mooring, loading, and unloading) Falls and has to be unloaded through a tube away from the edge. In that case, you will not get shore leave to visit the place.  Advances in technology have reduced the loading and unloading process and this makes schedules busy. Piracy is a major concern in shipping.  However, the number of these incidents is very less and every country is aware of this.  Even the Government of India is doing a very good job to eradicate this problem.  Kidnapping is the worst-case scenario for kidnappers.
  3. No appreciation on the sidelines and in a company - it also feels regret and anger, to say that many companies are not paying respect to their temporary employees because they forget that their earnings are only made by the sailors (because  Contract-based job of a sailor).  Companies have a lot of waiting periods, not the proper reporting system and the number of issues with signatures and sign-offs.
  4. Difficult to switch to this - once a merchant joins the Navy they begin planning for their luxurious lifestyle and management position. It looks simple to achieve, but due to lack of proper time, exam pattern, ship in newly added courses it is taking the time.  This is my personal experience, and I have seen people who are planning to get a certain position and then greatly improve the profession, but sorry to say that they are still sailing and  Still planning. After a certain post or rank, there is no doubt, you can make a lot of money but it will take according to the current scenario of shipping.
  5. Job opportunity and current scenario - The current scenario of shipping is actually very painful for freshers and not favourable for experienced. The number of institutes here is not providing placements accordingly. Many students have been fooled by the institute and these institutions are only making money. The course fee is very high as compared to other field courses without any job guarantee. Many students who join this field without knowing the internal process, working culture, and responsible. It is my personal experience, that the number of deck and engine cadets are roaming the company for their work after paying a lot of money during the courses. Maritime courses offer very few opportunities to apply elsewhere using these course certificates.

 As I have already told you that I am a sailor, this blog is based on my own experience.  I want you to do more digging in this area and look for resources before taking any further steps regarding your career in the Merchant Navy.  In this series, we will write some more blogs to guide you better.  If you are a sailor and are reading this blog, please share your own experience in the comments section.  And if you have any story to share with us regarding shipping, please mail us or submit here, we will publish it with your credit