Career in Merchant Navy

One willing to have a professional life full of adventure wants to experience different cultures and countries and at the same time wishes to bag a hefty pay-package then one should definitely consider for a career in merchant navy. A career in merchant navy is a mixture of multiple facets of any professional life amalgamated into one. A merchant navy officer is expected to stay aboard working for a minimum period of six months which helps one become adaptable to various traditions and people of different nationalities, become resourceful, discipline and achieve a better level of communication skills. Thus, helping an individual to grow professionally as well as personally.

Eligibility

• One needs to pass his class 12th from the PCM stream
• One has to have a 6/6 vision in both the eyes and no color blindness
• There should be no problem related to speech. One should be fluent in his speech, stuttering, and stammering can cause rejection.
• There should be no problem related to hearing. The candidate should be able to hear a whisper from at least a distance of 5 meters. The average threshold is 30 decibels in the ear which is better and 40 decibels in the other ear within the frequency range of 500, 1000, 2000 & 3000 hertz.
• The male applicants should have a weight not less than 42 kg and height not less 150 cm. The female applicants should have a minimum weight of 40 kg and height not less than 145 cm.
• The applicants should not have any skeletal disorder or deformity.
• The applicants should not be married.

Exams

• IMU CET (Indian Maritime University Common Entrance Test) conducted by the Indian Maritime University in December every year. For UG courses syllabus comprises of PCM, English of the class 12th level. Questions of general knowledge and aptitude are also asked. Applicants after passing the exam can avail admissions in various campuses of IMU located in Chennai, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, and Cochin.
• AIMNET (All India Merchant Navy Entrance Test) conducted by the offshore shipping academy for admissions in 54 board schools affiliated with it. The applicant has to take a written exam with question ranging from class 12th level PCM to basic general knowledge, reasoning, and English.

Some private colleges also accept scores of JEE and some conduct their own examinations for admissions.

Scope

Candidates who have completed their undergraduate or postgraduate courses in merchant navy are recruited by various companies that run various merchant and cargo ships. Some of the popular companies are Essar and Chowgule, del credere agents, Denholm, Shipping Corporation of India etc.  The graduates are employed as Executives, Navigators, and Engineers according to the courses they have done their graduation from. In executives, a joinee mostly starts as a Third officer whose salary is about Rs. 50,000/month. Subsequent promotions lead to Second Officer, Chief Officer and  Captain of the ship. From the post of Third Officer, it takes almost 8 years to be promoted to the post of a captain whose salary is almost Rs. 2 lakhs a month. In engineers, a joinee starts as a Junior engineer whose is about Rs 30,000/month with subsequent senior levels of Second engineer and Chief engineer. It takes almost 6-7 years for a junior officer to be promoted to the post of  Chief engineer whose salary is about Rs. 1.5 lakhs a month. Besides salary, they are also offered free lodging and boarding and tax exemptions as well.