Career Explorer Transport and logistics
Human edge, growing
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels
Command or supervise operations of ships and water vessels, such as tugboats and ferryboats. Required to hold license issued by U.S. Coast Guard.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 86% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by +4.0% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $92,460
- Job growth to 2035
- +4.0%
- Openings a year
- 3,800
- People doing it (2025)
- 41,300
- Usual route in
- College certificate
Where people already use AI for this work
- Determine operational methods or procedures
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
- Operate communications equipment or systems
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures
- Operate transportation equipment or vehicles
- Monitor safety or security of work areas, facilities, or properties
What the work looks like
- Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards.
- Prevent ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations.
- Serve as a vessel's docking master upon arrival at a port or at a berth.
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Aircraft cargo handling supervisorsHuman edge, growing, Index 97, +9.2%
- Ship engineersHuman edge, steady, Index 91, +2.7%
- Commercial pilotsHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.2%
- FirefightersHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +3.7%
Also known as: Boat Captain, Captain, First Mate, Mate, Ferry Boat Captain, Harbor Pilot, River Pilot, Ship Pilot.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.