Round the Year Salary in Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is known for paying high lucrative salaries to the seafarers who work onboard for extended periods of 6 – 9 months. Although these seafarers get really well paid, there is a discussion about the merchant navy being an uncertain line of work. One of the major reasons for this discussion is the fact that seafarers do not get paid the whole year. Most of them only get a salary for the duration that they serve onboard.
However, there are some shipping companies that pay salaries throughout the year to their employees. That means that these seafarers even get paid for the time that they’re at home enjoying their vacations. However, there is a cache and that’s what’s going to be the main topic for this blog.
Concept of Round the Year Salary in Merchant Navy
Now over here we are going to talk about above-average good ownership companies which pay salaries around the year. So, in these ownership companies, there is a policy that for every 30 days that you work onboard you get 21 days of paid leave. This means that for example if you sail for 5 months onboard then you will get 3.5 months of paid leave. Let’s take the example of Praneet Sir.
When he was the 4th engineer he joined British Petroleum, a very renowned Ownership company. Over there he was paid 2700$ per month round the year. This means that suppose he sailed for 5 months onboard he will get the same salary of 2700$ for another 3.5 months when he is at home.
Therefore, we can also conclude that he was earning almost 4500$ per month if we take into account the salary that he was being paid while he was at home. On the other hand when Praneet Sir was sailing as a 4th Engineer in Seaarland ship management which is a management company he was being paid 3500$ per month on a contractual basis. This means that he was only getting paid for the duration that he served onboard.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Round the Year Salary in Merchant Navy
The concept of round a year salary may look very tempting and lucrative from the outside, however, it has its own set of advantages and disadvantages when compared to contractual wages.
Some of the advantages of round the year salary in Merchant Navy are –
1. Stable salary throughout the year
One of the biggest advantages of earning a salary round the year is having a steady and stable flow of income throughout the year. This means that you can make those financial investments that you may have been a bit cautious about when you were working on a contractual basis. Having a steady and stable flow of income coming your way is a big advantage in case you want to make some big financial investments.
2. Work-Life Balance
Most companies that offer round the year salary also have shorter contracts of 4-5 months. Such shorter contracts help seafarers in maintaining the work-life balance that most seafarers working on a contractual basis yearn for. Seafarers working in such companies can’t really extend their vacation and have to report for duty as and when required by the company. Therefore this kind helps them in maintaining work-life balance as they get enough time to enjoy themselves with their families at home. However, not long enough to become slack and undisciplined.
3. Good Employee Treatment
Most Ownership companies that pay round the year salary also offer really good employee treatment. As these companies are mostly big cash-rich ownership companies therefore they provide really good facilities and benefits for their employees.
Some of the disadvantages of round the year salary in Merchant Navy are –
1. Limited Vacation period
As mentioned above seafarers that get paid round the year do not really have the option of extending their vacations. They have to report onboard as and when required by the company. On the other hand, seafarers who work on a contractual basis have the freedom to take as long a vacation as they like as they are only paid for the duration that they’re onboard. EX. Praneet Sir.
2. Slower Promotions
Most of the companies offering round the year salary have really slow promotions. As these companies have very limited vessels compared to management companies therefore they very rarely have vacancies for senior officers. Most seafarers who are working in these ownership companies do not want to leave the company because of their excellent pay and employee treatment. This is one of the reasons why junior officers do not get easily promoted in these companies as there is hardly any vacancy for senior officers in such companies.
I hope after reading the above blog most of your doubts regarding round-the-year salary must have been cleared. This concept may look very tempting however as mentioned above it has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Therefore you need to prioritize the things that you want from your career in the merchant navy and then take the decision to change or join a shipping company.
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Thank You for the Information Sir🙏🙂.
Sir if our contract finish of serving our ship on board then will the company calls us again or we have to opt for different companies if that so then how we will apply for other companies?
Hello Abhipsaa Mishra
They will call you again.
Team Merchant Navy Decoded.
Sir pls tell which companies provide round the year salary
Hi Rohit, see there are vary few companies that provide the round the year salary and even those provide after a certain rank. Some Companies like Maersk, BP Marine are some companies that provide this facility after a certain rank and conditions.
How to join the company which provide round year salary
Hi Harshit, there are very few companies that provides round the year salary, however to get round the year salary you have to work with that company for a certain time and even then there is no guarantee than you will get round the year salary.