Wheelhouse Crew Pay
Master or Captain: The master of the vessel is the highest paid position on board any vessel, which will see you making anywhere between $125,000 and $180,000 per year. This is all dependent on the type of vessel that you are captain of, the size of the vessel, the location, your employer, and specific levels of expertise that you can offer. You will also earn a basic wage with extra sea hours, holiday and weekend bonuses and paid leave.
First Mate, Chief Officer, or Chief Mate: Your salary as a First Mate, Chief Officer, or Chief Mate will range from $80,000 to $100,000 or more, with additional benefits like medical aid, insurance, dental, meals, accommodation on board, paid leave and more.
Second and Third Mates: Your salary as a Second or Third Mate will range from $40,000 up to about $80,000, and you will also be able to earn extra benefits depending on who you work for and where you work. These include dental and medical, disability insurance, accommodation and meals, transport to and from the ports, and paid leave among other things. As with the other maritime jobs your salary could be broken up into base pay, bonus pay for time at sea, and additional pay for weekends and holidays working at sea.
Able Seaman Deckhand: The average salary for an able seaman is around $43,000, but this can obviously vary greatly depending on the type of able seaman position, the location, your employer, your experience, and any other benefits that are received such as insurance and medical aid, accommodation and meals, as well as paid shore leave or transportation to the port.
Ordinary Seaman Deckhand: The OS deckhand will earn about $30,000 which can vary depending on your employer, the location in which you work, your benefits, like medical aid, insurance and bonuses, as well as your experience levels and skills.
Deckhands: As a deckhand, you will earn a similar salary to the ordinary seaman averaging $30,000, which will vary according to the medical aids, insurance, accommodation, meals and transport costs that your company decides to cover, as well as bonus pay for time working at sea, and paid leave or sick days that you might receive.