Introduction To Merchant Navy:

What is the Merchant navy?

            Well, quite a few of you know what do we do exactly at sea. For a second, have a look at the mobile device you are using to read this Blog. Have a look at the vehicle you drive to reach your office or destination. Where does the vehicle is fueled from? Is All the parts of your vehicle or your mobile are manufactured in your locality?  Have you thought about, how are you getting the branded clothing, footwear, fashion designs from Different origins of the globe?  The answer is, “That’s We, Mariners”. Yes, We work there for you to supply your essentials on time. 

                                                        Merchant Navy means Transportation of cargoes from one part to another part of the globe. It maybe electronics, automobiles, fuel products, day-to-day essentials, food products, and many more.  Over 90 percent of the Goods are transported via Sea route. Because of the low cost of transportation and large carrying capacity. Without the efforts of seafarers, it’s impossible for a country to safeguard it’s “ECONOMY”. There is a saying about seafarers, 

“If Ships stops working for a day, 

                            Half of the world will starve to Death and 

                                                                Another half will Freeze”.  

Merchant Navy is not a job, It’s a responsibility. It’s a proud moment to be in the Merchant Navy. But, apart from Proud feeling, we should think about our family and career growth too. So here is a guide for you to know myths and truths of marine life.

                                   

Have you thought of Joining Merchant Navy? If yes, then before taking a further step, have a look at are the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Merchant Navy.

• Pay Scale – As always pay scale comes in the first place in the list of advantages. As no other industry will pay at that range at the entry-level.  

• Exploring the World – In my opinion, this is the greatest advantage of joining the merchant navy. You’ll get chances to visit almost every part of the globe for free of cost (Which again depends on the type of ship and trading route). In two years of sailing, I have visited some dream destinations like Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Singapore, Malaysia, Pattaya City Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and China.

• Healthy Environment – When it comes to onboard life, this is my first favorite. We get a healthy environment at sea. Beautiful Sunrise and Sunsets, Cold Breeze, Different Colors of Sea, Awesome Views of marine livings such as Dolphins, Seals, Different kinds of Birds, and many more.

• Long Vacations – This is also a high rated advantage. As we’ll get long vacations, we can spend time with our family and friends, we can plan trips with our friends and family. Personally, this helps me to explore my new hobbies such as blogging or web development.

• Savings – This comes as an additional advantage but only if you know money management. As we no need to pay for anything onboard we can save more.

• Tax benefits – As of now there’s an exemption for seafarers from paying tax. As they are considered as NRI. This may change in the future.

• If you like to work with machines, then you’ll love to work with the biggest machines ever.

• Onboard parties are my second favorite item in the list of onboard lifestyle. 

• Love for Uniform- This was my eye-catching item before joining the merchant navy. And I feel it’s a pride to have those stripes on my shoulder. Because “you have to earn them, you can’t buy them”.

• As in every industry, the merchant navy also has some disadvantages. But in my opinion, they are worth to face if we want to enjoy the beauty of marine life.

• Social Disengagement – This is a challenging part of marine life. We need to stay disconnected from social firms for quite a long time. For many seafarers, this social disengagement turns them into alone, lonely, and lost. But if we have the art to turn that lonely moment into a beautiful peaceful moment this isn’t a challenge at all.

• Staying away from family and friends for a long time is a bit difficult for anyone. But thanks to technologies which are providing various means of communication with friends and family. And some of the companies do offer facilities to Get your family on board if you like to.

• Expensive Courses -We need to spend a bit more money to join and pass the initial stages. But I can’t say this as a disadvantage, it’s a risk. And if you are a risk-taker type there’s no loss in investing for your education.                    

As of now, you might have got a rough idea about marine life. So moving forward-

There are mainly two departments onboard ship,

1. Deck Department.
2. Engine Department.

Deck Department:

                      This is the department that navigates the ship. They prepare voyage plans(sea route), they communicate with the pilot and port people for a safe arrival and departure, they carry out watches for the safe navigation and also they work for maintaining the external appearance of the ship. In web development terms, they are front-end developers.

                    This is the department that moves the ship. They work with Engines and hundreds of other machinery to generate power on board and run the ship. They make sure Starting, Speeding up, Slowing Down, Stopping of the ship as per the commands from the bridge(place of Navigation). In web development terms they are Back-End developers.

Both departments are equally important for the safe navigation of the ship. So it’s your choice to choose either to be back-end or Front-end.

                                        So this was all about a brief introduction, advantages, and disadvantages of the Merchant Navy. In the next article, I’ll write about the most frequently asked question, How to Join Merchant Navy?. keep reading…

                                                        

Read here, How to Join Merchant Navy? What are the different courses??