What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called barge captain, boat captain, canal boat captain and captain.
$92,460
Median pay a year
36,850
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Directing transport activities
Operating ships or watercraft
Monitoring surroundings
Signaling others
Directing maintenance or repair
Reading maps
Monitoring equipment gauges
Monitoring equipment operation
Monitoring work environment
Measuring levels or depths
Determining geographic coordinates
Choosing transportation routes
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels
1 certification
Summary
Captain supervising operations of ships and water vessels, directing courses and speeds while ensuring safe navigation and docking through specialized knowledge of environmental conditions and navigational equipment
Experience
Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Directed courses and speeds of ships based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, and tides
Prevented ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations
Served as a vessel's docking master upon arrival at a port or berth
Consulted maps, charts, and navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements
Steered and operated vessels using radios, depth finders, and radars
Operated ship-to-shore radios to exchange information needed for ship operations
Docked or undocked vessels, maneuvering through narrow spaces such as locks
Skills
Leading & Coordinating
Directing transport activities, Signaling others, Directing maintenance or repair
Core Skills
Monitoring surroundings, Reading maps, Monitoring equipment gauges, Monitoring equipment operation, Monitoring work environment, Driver's license, Operating ships or watercraft, Measuring levels or depths
Education
Certificate Your training program, Year
Certifications & Licenses
State license for this work Your state board, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
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What to put on a Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels resume
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What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Directed courses and speeds of shipsPrevented unsafe operations under navigational controlServed as docking master upon arrivalConsulted maps and charts for ship movementsSteered and operated vessels using navigation toolsInspected vessels for safe operation and compliance
becomes
On your resume
Directed courses and speeds of ships, ensuring safe navigation and compliance with maritime regulations
Served as docking master upon arrival, coordinating vessel movements and ensuring safe docking procedures
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Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
Add what improved in navigation safety because of your direction
The line
Directed courses and speeds of ships, reducing incidents of grounding or collisions while ensuring safe navigation and compliance with maritime regulations
Add what improved in navigation safety because of your direction
Pick one that fits
Reduced incidents of grounding or collisionsImproved overall safety ratings for the vesselEnhanced crew confidence in navigation decisions
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Mention if you were trusted with additional responsibilities during docking
The line
Served as docking master upon arrival, coordinating vessel movements and ensuring safe docking procedures
Mention if you were trusted with additional responsibilities during docking
Pick one that fits
Trained new crew members on docking proceduresOversaw multiple vessels docking at onceManaged communications with port authorities
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Command or supervise operations of ships and water vessels, such as tugboats and ferryboats. Required to hold license issued by U.S. Coast Guard.
What it pays
How much does a Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$63,880
Median
$92,460
75th percentile
$127,180
About 36,850 people do this work in the United States.
What you can already claim as a Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels
Below are the tasks a Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
You can already claim 4 of the 9 tasks this job is made of.
What you have not done yet. Directing maintenance or repair, Reading maps, Monitoring equipment gauges
Your resume, already started
Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels
Directing transport activities
Operating ships or watercraft
Monitoring surroundings
Signaling others
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This page is about the occupation Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.