How to join in the Merchant Navy? Eligibility and Job Prospects
If you are a student of Science or Mechanical engineering and if you love the outdoors and have an aptitude for working hard and of a friendly disposition then Merchant Navy will be an exciting and lucrative career that can be offered to any young students.
Merchant Navy is the pillar of international trade, carrying cargo all over the globe. The merchant ships employ a huge number of workers to carry and deliver goods from one nation to another. Without the merchant navy, much of the import-export business would move toward a grinding halt!
How to join the Merchant Navy?
In Merchant Navy, major tasks performed are in three basics areas of ships-
1. The Deck – The Deck officers include the captain, chief officer, second officer, third officer and other junior officer’s works in this area of ship.
2. The Engine – One can work as a chief engineer, second engineer, third engineer, fourth engineer, electrical engineer and junior engineer.
3. The saloon department –This department includes the Kitchen, laundry, and other services.
Aspirants need to complete a Bachelors degree in the Nautical Science or Marine engineering in order to enter the navigation and engineering fields of Merchant Navy. The minimum eligibility in nautical science and Marine engineering course is 10+2 or an equivalent examination with physics, chemistry and mathematics. Candidates should also pass a medical fitness test for sea services under standard norms and with eyesight 6/6 with no color blindness.
Entrance Exam for Merchant Navy- After completing 12th, interested aspirants can The Indian Maritime University Common Entrance Test (IMU CET) or All Indian Merchant Navy Entrance Exam. This exam is conducted in the month of May. The other exams which also serve as a gateway for marine engineering are JEE, MERI Entrance Exam, TIMSAT.
Merchant Navy job prospects:
The employment opportunities in this field are enormous. Candidates who have completed the basic course in merchant navy can obtain jobs through various consultants and placement agencies. Merchant navy fleet includes cargo ships, container ships, barge carrying ships, tankers, refrigerators ships, bulk carriers, passenger ships, as well as roll off/roll on ships.
Companies that run merchant ships need trained people who can operate and maintain the ships. Some of these companies are Wallem Ship Management of Hong Kong, Denholm of UK, K Line, Chevron and Mobil of USA, Bibby Ship Management, d'Amico etc. In India too job opportunities are available both in private and in government sector to name some few - the Shipping Corporation of India, Great Eastern Shipping, Essar and Chowgule Shipping.
As per the pay package is concerned the Merchant Navy employees are one of the highly paid professionals in the industry. The starting salary of the personnel varies between 25,000 to 1 lakhs a month depending on the company one is working in. Besides monetary remunerations a personal of the Navy get a variety of other monetary benefits such as free food, accommodation, paid leave, two way free passage and facilities for families.
A career in the merchant navy is considered an alluring job, especially for the people who have been bitten by the travel bug. Merchant Navy career is not only economically rewarding but also satisfying and a quite challenging.
