Merchant Navy

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For the locomotives, see SR Merchant Navy Class.

Merchant Navy is the term most commonly used in English-speaking countries to denote ships owned and operated by civilian companies, comprising cargo, oil carriers, and passenger liners, as opposed to the single word Navy, denoting fighting ships. In the United States it is known as the Merchant Marine, or United States Merchant Marine. In England, prior to the end of the First World War when she sailed more than half of the world's tonnage, it was known as the Merchant Service, and it became the Merchant Navy by a Royal Proclamation of George V, in recognition of the fact that the service sailed valiantly alongside the Royal Navy's fighting ships.

The merchant shipping companies of many countries in the 1970s and 1980s 're-flagged', that is, re-registered their ships in other countries sailing under other flags, such as Panama, Liberia and The Bahamas. The reason for this change was due to high taxes and high costs of regulation and local crewing.

Concerning the British system, in recent years NUMAST, which was the trade union of its merchant navy (as of October 2006 replaced by Nautilus UK), has lobbied the UK government to reconsider the level of taxation placed upon shipping companies, and several new tax breaks have begun to raise the total number of ships that fly the UK flag. The flag that is flown by UK registered ships is the red ensign, usually referred to as the "Red Duster".

The ruling class aboard ships are the officers, both above and below decks. The merchant navy, like the military, has both ratings and officers. Both career paths require thorough training.

A person hoping to one day become a Captain, or Master, prior to about 1973, had 5 choices. To attend one of the elite 3 naval schools from the age of 12, HMS Conway, HMS Worcester or Pangbourne Nautical College, which would automatically lead to an apprenticeship as a cadet officer; apply to one of several training programs elsewhere, or apply directly to a merchant shipping company at perhaps the age of 17 (with poor prospects of being accepted without a nautical school or other prior education.) Then there would be 3 years (with prior training or 4 years without) of seagoing experience aboard ship, working under the direction of the bo'sun cleaning bilges and scrubbing decks, and navigating and seamanship on the bridge, in uniform, under the direction of an officer, before taking exams to become a second mate. With luck, one could become an "uncertificated" 2nd mate in the last year. With the demise of the traditional old fleets, that has become history. Today, one should consult the Merchant Navy Training Board for appropriate training directions and information.

Another essential seagoing career was that of the radio officer (or R/O, but usually "sparks"), employed and placed by the Marconi Company. After the inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic, and the nearby SS Californian which did not render assistance due to their radio being down for the night, it was ordered that 24/7 watch had to be maintained on all ships over 1600 gt. Today, Marconi no longer supplies radio officers to ships at sea, because they are no longer required, due to the development of satellites. Not only do they provide instant and automatic ship to ship and ship to shore communications, they have also taken over the role of navigation which was by sextant and chronometer.

Comsat launched their first commercial satellite in 1976 and by the mid 1980s satellite communication domes had become a familiar sight at sea. The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System or GMDSS was introduced and by 1st Feb, 1999, all ships had to be fitted, thus bringing to an end the position of radio officer.

This has led to a new career path, the recently introduced Electro-Technical Officer (ETO), who is a trained engineer with qualifications to assist the mechanical engineer to maintain vital electronic equipment such as radios and RADARs. ETOs are marine engineers given extra training. Although ETOs are relatively new, many companies are beginning to employ them, (although mechanical engineers are still employed).

Crews are of course made up of others, working under the eyes of the officers; the deck crew, responsible for general maintenance, sailing "before the mast", (which, due to exaggerated pitching motion in bad weather, is the least comfortable part of the ship), under the bo'sun, who is in charge. Other duties aboard ship are performed by the ship's carpenter, the cooks, the stewards, the quartermaster who steers the ship, and the below-decks crew, often referred to as "greasers". British passenger ships with more than 12 passengers are required to have a doctor aboard. For ships of the British Merchant Navy on foreign service, interestingly, it used to be that each of these departments were peopled with ethnically based workers. The deck crew would invariably be Malayan, the quartermasters Filipino, the greasers and stewards Indian, the cooks Indian but from Goa where, being Christian, they could prepare Western style food, and the ships carpenter ("chippy") would always be Chinese. The deck officers would be British or Commonwealth headed by the Captain (or Master, but more often referred to as "the old man"), the Purser, in charge of the ship's stores, usually from the North of England, and the engineering officers Scottish. No one knows why. Nowadays, ships have turnaround times of less than twenty-four hours instead of several days, and are run largely by computers, requiring a much smaller, live on board sometimes with family, crew. The passenger liners that once transported people now ply the oceans for pleasure seekers, cargo ships have switched to containers using efficient shoreside cranes instead of the ship's derricks, and tankers have become monsters.

Sailing on the high seas has a long history, with embedded traditions largely inherited from the days of sail. Because of the ever-present concerns of safety for crew and passengers, the layers of authority are rigid, discipline strict, and mutiny almost unknown. The romantic lure for those "going down to the sea in ships" is less than it was.