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.
36,850 people do this job in the US. $92,460 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 8%
- 2%
- 90%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 5%. Today's estimate: 5%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stand watches on vessels during specified periods while vessels are under way.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 3.3 h3.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Steer and operate vessels, using radios, depth finders, radars, lights, buoys, or lighthouses.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Tow and maneuver barges or signal tugboats to tow barges to destinations.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect vessels to ensure efficient and safe operation of vessels and equipment and conformance to regulations.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Consult maps, charts, weather reports, or navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform various marine duties, such as checking for oil spills or other pollutants around ports or harbors or patrolling beaches.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Serve as a vessel's docking master upon arrival at a port or at a berth.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Prevent ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain boats or equipment on board, such as engines, winches, navigational systems, fire extinguishers, or life preservers.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Dock or undock vessels, sometimes maneuvering through narrow spaces, such as locks.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain records of daily activities, personnel reports, ship positions and movements, ports of call, weather and sea conditions, pollution control efforts, or cargo or passenger status.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 95%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).