# Modern Ship's Crew



## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

On my first trip to sea on passenger ship RMS Rangitane in the 50's we had no less than the following specialist crew
Chief Engineer plus ten watch keepers on the main engines, three on refrigeration.
Chief Electrician and three watch keeper electricians
Chief Radio Officer and three watch keeping Sparkies
Chief Officer and three other watch keeping Mates
Chief Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon
Chief Purser and assistant Pursers

She was a dual role passenger/ cargo vessel with about 450 passengers so she had a full compliment of stewards in addition to the engine room greasers and deck seamen

Seems to be a big mob compared with today’s manning standards, I hear that the engine room is unattended most of the time nowadays

Can anyone tell me what is the typical compliment of a modern container ship/bulk carrier/ tanker today?


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## jodalo (Sep 24, 2005)

Xin Los Angeles, one of the largest container ships in the world carries 19 crew!


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## Chouan (Apr 20, 2006)

What is the breakdown of this crew?


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## Orbitaman (Oct 5, 2007)

The Maersk 'E' class VLCC's try to operate with a crew of 14:

Master, 1st Mate, 2nd Mate, 3rd Mate,
Chief Engineer, 2nd Engineer, 3rd Engineer,
4 AB's
1 Wiper,
Cook and Messman


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## Gareth Jones (Jul 13, 2007)

Orbitaman said:


> The Maersk 'E' class VLCC's try to operate with a crew of 14:
> 
> Master, 1st Mate, 2nd Mate, 3rd Mate,
> Chief Engineer, 2nd Engineer, 3rd Engineer,
> ...


 Thats interesting - With such a small number would they still have seperate facilities i.e. Officers Bar, Crew Bar and saloons etc etc ?


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## Orbitaman (Oct 5, 2007)

Gareth Jones said:


> Thats interesting - With such a small number would they still have seperate facilities i.e. Officers Bar, Crew Bar and saloons etc etc ?


Officially, the vessels have a common dining saloon, but in practice, the Officers eat in the saloon and the crew in the duty mess.

They still have separate smokerooms!


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## Ian6 (Feb 1, 2006)

When I was 4/O in P&O "Sunda" at a mere 8,000 tons, but with up to 12 passengers our complement was 100 in total including a surgeon! It was years before they realised that without the surgeon (or limted to 10 passengers) we were below 100 so didn't need the surgeon anyway.
With so many on the payroll for a modest (but fast) cargo ship it is not hard to see where it all went pear-shaped - but that's been more than adequately covered already. Still cannot really believe the sort of figures quoted today are safe.
Ian


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## David K (Feb 28, 2007)

.... My last ship, carried 98 passengers and had 64 Crew, plus a Doctor . Night time or poor visibility, the Bridge was manned by the Mate, Quarter Master and a "Lookout" .... with the Captain sometimes as well in bad weather/reduced visibility. It's hard to imagine that some of the current crop of ships, with their minimal crews are capable of maintaining a "Proper Look Out" ! ..... David K. ....


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## DICK SLOAN (Jan 19, 2007)

I feel We all let this happen in a way, not going to say much about this, but with all the high-tec on board, I still think the small number on board is a little unsafe.


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## JET (Oct 22, 2005)

Bob,
The biggest problem with the Rangitane class of ship in the 50's was that they were overmanned for a major portion of each voyage. There were sufficient numbers of personnel on board in the catering/hospitality department to look after 416 passengers + crew while at sea but once you reached NZ it was overkill for the period that you were on the coast. At that time you could be in one port for weeks. It was not surprising to therefore observe that some people were working in jobs ashore, still living on board of course. Some were job sharing.

Regards, John


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