Marine and waterways
transport operatives
Marine and waterways transport operatives supervise and carry out a variety of deck duties and operate and maintain engines, boilers and mechanical equipment on board ships, boats and other marine vessels.
- Employees (UK)
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- Median annual pay
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- Exposure score ?
- 0.2/10 Minimal 0.4/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 0.4/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.2/10
- Wage exposure
- - -
Higher exposure than 15% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Tie barges together into tow units for tugboats to handle, inspecting barges periodically during voyages and disconnecting them when destinations are reached.
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Attach hoses and operate pumps to transfer substances to and from liquid cargo tanks.
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Handle lines to moor vessels to wharfs, to tie up vessels to other vessels, or to rig towing lines.
For this role the labels do not surface obvious candidates, so the work would start with the highest-stakes tasks below and find the AI angle in conversation.
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Tie barges together into tow units for tugboats to handle, inspecting barges periodically during voyages and disconnecting them when destinations are reached.
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Attach hoses and operate pumps to transfer substances to and from liquid cargo tanks.
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Handle lines to moor vessels to wharfs, to tie up vessels to other vessels, or to rig towing lines.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Sailors and Marine Oilers" (53-5011.00).
What AI can already do
1 of 28 tasks, unaided
Record data in ships' logs, such as weather conditions or distances traveled.
What still needs a person
27 of 28 tasks
Tie barges together into tow units for tugboats to handle, inspecting barges periodically during voyages and disconnecting them when destinations are reached.
Attach hoses and operate pumps to transfer substances to and from liquid cargo tanks.
Handle lines to moor vessels to wharfs, to tie up vessels to other vessels, or to rig towing lines.
Read pressure and temperature gauges or displays and record data in engineering logs.
Stand watch in ships' bows or bridge wings to look for obstructions in a ship's path or to locate navigational aids, such as buoys or lighthouses.
Maintain government-issued certifications, as required.
Examine machinery to verify specified pressures or lubricant flows.
Maintain a ship's engines under the direction of the ship's engineering officers.
Break out, rig, and stow cargo-handling gear, stationary rigging, or running gear.
Lubricate machinery, equipment, or engine parts, such as gears, shafts, or bearings.
Stand by wheels when ships are on automatic pilot, and verify accuracy of courses, using magnetic compasses.
Steer ships under the direction of commanders or navigating officers or direct helmsmen to steer, following designated courses.
Lower and man lifeboats when emergencies occur.
Relay specified signals to other ships, using visual signaling devices, such as blinker lights or semaphores.
Sweep, mop, and wash down decks to remove oil, dirt, and debris, using brooms, mops, brushes, and hoses.
Overhaul lifeboats or lifeboat gear and lower or raise lifeboats with winches or falls.
Splice and repair ropes, wire cables, or cordage, using marlinespikes, wire cutters, twine, and hand tools.
Load or unload materials, vehicles, or passengers from vessels.
Stand gangway watches to prevent unauthorized persons from boarding ships while in port.
Chip and clean rust spots on decks, superstructures, or sides of ships, using wire brushes and hand or air chipping machines.
Provide engineers with assistance in repairing or adjusting machinery.
Operate, maintain, or repair ship equipment, such as winches, cranes, derricks, or weapons system.
Paint or varnish decks, superstructures, lifeboats, or sides of ships.
Give directions to crew members engaged in cleaning wheelhouses or quarterdecks.
Measure depth of water in shallow or unfamiliar waters, using leadlines, and telephone or shout depth information to vessel bridges.
Clean and polish wood trim, brass, or other metal parts.
Participate in shore patrols.
Tasks via O*NET "Sailors and Marine Oilers" (53-5011.00).
What AI can already do
2 of 28 tasks, with tools
Read pressure and temperature gauges or displays and record data in engineering logs.
Record data in ships' logs, such as weather conditions or distances traveled.
What still needs a person
26 of 28 tasks
Tie barges together into tow units for tugboats to handle, inspecting barges periodically during voyages and disconnecting them when destinations are reached.
Attach hoses and operate pumps to transfer substances to and from liquid cargo tanks.
Handle lines to moor vessels to wharfs, to tie up vessels to other vessels, or to rig towing lines.
Stand watch in ships' bows or bridge wings to look for obstructions in a ship's path or to locate navigational aids, such as buoys or lighthouses.
Maintain government-issued certifications, as required.
Examine machinery to verify specified pressures or lubricant flows.
Maintain a ship's engines under the direction of the ship's engineering officers.
Break out, rig, and stow cargo-handling gear, stationary rigging, or running gear.
Lubricate machinery, equipment, or engine parts, such as gears, shafts, or bearings.
Stand by wheels when ships are on automatic pilot, and verify accuracy of courses, using magnetic compasses.
Steer ships under the direction of commanders or navigating officers or direct helmsmen to steer, following designated courses.
Lower and man lifeboats when emergencies occur.
Relay specified signals to other ships, using visual signaling devices, such as blinker lights or semaphores.
Sweep, mop, and wash down decks to remove oil, dirt, and debris, using brooms, mops, brushes, and hoses.
Overhaul lifeboats or lifeboat gear and lower or raise lifeboats with winches or falls.
Splice and repair ropes, wire cables, or cordage, using marlinespikes, wire cutters, twine, and hand tools.
Load or unload materials, vehicles, or passengers from vessels.
Stand gangway watches to prevent unauthorized persons from boarding ships while in port.
Chip and clean rust spots on decks, superstructures, or sides of ships, using wire brushes and hand or air chipping machines.
Provide engineers with assistance in repairing or adjusting machinery.
Operate, maintain, or repair ship equipment, such as winches, cranes, derricks, or weapons system.
Paint or varnish decks, superstructures, lifeboats, or sides of ships.
Give directions to crew members engaged in cleaning wheelhouses or quarterdecks.
Measure depth of water in shallow or unfamiliar waters, using leadlines, and telephone or shout depth information to vessel bridges.
Clean and polish wood trim, brass, or other metal parts.
Participate in shore patrols.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Process, plant and machine operatives, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons