All other people without a certificate of competence are called ratings. Ratings assist in all other tasks that can arise during a voyage. This includes for example, mooring, cleaning of the ship and its holds and repairing broken ropes. These are physically challenging jobs since they have to be accomplished in every weather condition.
However, these are just some of the job opportunities at sea. Depending on the size and the type of the vessel there might be many more. Also, an on board profession today is not considered a dead-end road – it is only a stage in most seafarers’ career paths. Seafarers usually stay between three and six years on board and are then perfectly experienced for working in the maritime industry ashore.
