Beginners need to know that the Merchant Navy is different from the country’s Navy. The Merchant Navy engages in commercial shipping and forms the backbone of world trade, while the National Navy plays a role in protecting the national territorial waters.
The Navy of the country also plays a major role in ensuring safe trade routes for commercial vessels. For many young people, the charm of the high seas, lucrative salaries, and the opportunity to travel worldwide are big and immensely alluring reasons. As a result, many people are now looking for a career in merchant ships and related services. Would you like to find out more about how to join Merchant Navy? Here we go!
Places where you could be working once you finish your degree course.
Remember, working as a Merchant Navy officer is unlike a normal 9.0 to 5.0 office job. Here, the vessels would be your office-cum-residence, and you would often be visiting different countries during your voyages that could last for weeks or months.
1. Container ship
A container ship is a freighter that carries all its luggage in a truck-sized intermodal container, a containerization technique. Virtually all the world trade depends on container ships to haul goods from one country to another.
2. Bulk carriers
A bulk carrier is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpacked bulk carriers such as food grains, coal, ore, and cement in the cargo hold. Today’s bulk carriers are designed to maximize load, safety, efficiency, and be stiff enough to withstand harsh weather and loads.
3. Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for entertainment and long-distance voyages. They are essentially designed for leisure and holidays. Therefore, cruise liners are like floating luxury hotels where family and friends can spend time together.
4. Refrigerated ships
These are designed to transport fresh food, which usually requires very low temperatures for transportation. The products are mainly meat, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and other edible products.
5. Oil tanker
An oil tanker is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transportation of oil. There are generally two types of oil tankers:
A) Crude oil tankers transport unrefined crude oil in large quantities from extraction points to various refineries.
B) Petroleum tankers are generally much smaller and are designed to transport petrochemicals from refineries to the consumer market.
Now, let’s see whether the Merchant Navy is a good career.
Awesome salaries
Few jobs in the world pay such salaries to beginner-level officers like the Merchant Ship Navy. A great incentive for everyone to pursue a profession is the salary package from around the rupee. The salaries can range from INR 35000 to INR 50000 for the trainee cadets. This is arguably an awesome start to anyone’s career.
Pay scales are set in accordance with the current IMO (International Maritime Organization) and ILO (International Labour Organization) laws, which means one can expect a lot of uniformity working with different international companies around the world.
Tax incentives
Merchant Navy personnel are exempt from paying taxes if they meet the requirements for tax exemption purposes. Merchant Navy experts are required to spend at least six months of service on board. The expert is then exempt from paying taxes for the specified fiscal year.
However, the law varies from country to country. For example, in India, people who sail for more than 183 days are exempt from the income tax.
World is one
You will go around the world every few days and see most countries and continents during your tenure as a Merchant Navy official. Depending on the route, the ship may sometimes sail for months with loads of countries to cover! For you, the world would certainly be one as you would have crew members from different countries, ethnicities, and religions.
Improve professionalism
Working in the Merchant Navy allows individuals to function better as a unit. The Merchant Ship Navy must have good communication skills, extreme wisdom, and great discipline. These qualities are further refined when a person spends a considerable amount of time on the high seas.
While working in the Merchant Navy, one evolves not only professionally but also personally. This degree of professionalism has a great responsibility to the ship and crew. Years of rigorous training in this area can make a particular task look mediocre to the layman, but many years to achieve that level of experience requires diligent work.
Adventure all around
A career in the Merchant Navy is like a daily adventure. There is a high degree of adventure in this profile as you never know when the serene-looking ocean could become a monster because of the inclement weather, ready to engulf the vessel. A career in the Merchant Ship Navy is not for those who prefer to remain confined to their offices. Unlike normal offices, there is an endless ocean around the ship, which can surprise you anytime and evoke a spirit of adventure.
Choose the best Merchant Navy institution in West-Central India
If you have an affinity for the ocean, ships and looking for a life with a lot of travel and a bounty of money, you should go for one of the Marine Engineering degree courses at MANET. Although several engineering colleges in India offer degree courses, most of them lie in the coastal regions barring a few, like Maharashtra Academy of Naval Education and Training (MANET). MANET is a part of the renowned MIT ADT University, Pune, that has the distinction of having an actual ship-in-campus designated as ‘Training Ship-Vishwanath.’
If you are one of those who love high seas, huge vessels, loads of travel and a great pay packet, you should look out for one of the Marine Engineering degree courses at MANET. MANET is one of the rare institutions in India that has the distinction of having a real ship on campus. Our training ship is called as Vishwanath.
We, at MANET, are proud to have been assigned Grade “A1” (Outstanding) rating by the INDIAN REGISTER OF SHIPPING (IRS) during the Comprehensive Inspection Programme (CIP) initiated by DG Shipping, Government of India earlier this year. MANET has a tie-up with over 15 recruiter shipping companies and has successfully placed over 2000 cadets who are sailing worldwide.
WATCH our webinar titled – Road to Successful Career in Merchant Navy – click here
Feel free to contact us for any queries; we would love to help you realize your dreams in the merchant navy.
Go ahead, meet our career experts, and set sail to accomplish your dream career today!
