Merchant Navy

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. more...

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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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org