Ferry Captain
Operating powered causeway sections and waterjet warping tugs provides directly relevant vessel-handling experience for ferry operations.
How to prepare: Have USCG assess your existing credentials and official military sea-service transcript or assignment history, with vessel and duty details, for an MMC and ferry-command endorsement matched to the vessel tonnage and route; a DD-214 is not acceptable sea-service evidence. Before enrolling in training, use that assessment to identify remaining requirements for sea time, typically several years, approved training, written testing, medical fitness and drug screening, and confirm TWIC requirements and officer-endorsement age and citizenship eligibility.
What the civilian work involves
- Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards.
- Consult maps, charts, weather reports, or navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements.
- Steer and operate vessels, using radios, depth finders, radars, lights, buoys, or lighthouses.