Ordinary Seaman Bulker Jobs: What to Expect on Your First Contract

The OS position is the starting point for most deck rating careers. On a bulk carrier it is more physically demanding and less glamorous than any maritime career guide prepares you for. Knowing what it actually is helps set the right expectations.

**The Work**

Cleaning. Painting. Assisting ABs with maintenance tasks. These are the main activities. The OS works under direct supervision. Nothing is done independently.

Bridge lookout watches are part of the OS role on most vessels. Four hours on the bridge as an additional pair of eyes, logging into the watch record. This is important. The bridge watch time logged during OS service counts toward the sea service calculation for the AB certificate application.

Mooring operations involve the OS as a line handler under the bosun’s direction. The lines are heavy. The deck at a bulk carrier terminal can be chaotic during arrival and departure. Paying attention to where the lines are running and where the snap-back zones are is basic survival knowledge.

Hold cleaning between cargo grades is heavy work in a dirty environment. Coal residue before a grain cargo. Fertiliser residue before a bauxite cargo. The OS carries a share of this work.

**The Timeline**

Eighteen months of sea service is the STCW minimum for the Able Seafarer Deck certificate application. With consistent contracting and minimal gaps that can be done in two years of calendar time including leave periods.

The quality of the sea time matters. OS service where bridge watch time is properly logged and where the officer of the watch signs each watch entry is worth more in certificate terms than OS service that consists entirely of maintenance work.

**Pay**

$900 to $1,400 per month. The lowest rate in the deck department. The investment being made is in sea time and a discharge book, not current income.