Why is the crew well paid and not many people are willing to do it?
1. On average, crew members only rest at home for two to three months each year, and work at sea at other times, and take vacations at home without pay.
2. Most ships have no signal and network for the personal use of the crew. Even if there is, because satellite communication is expensive, the network speed is extremely slow (WeChat can only send and receive text, but the text can't be sent out), and the traffic is limited.
There is no supermarket on board, and the crew can't spend all their money. Prepare basic daily necessities before boarding the plane.
4. The ship is very dangerous, with high internal work injury rate, and external risks such as typhoon, collision, hitting rocks and piracy. And there are no doctors on board, only commonly used medicines and first aid supplies.
The crew members have been away for a long time and can't take care of all kinds of major accidents at home.
The wife is widowed. They were both deprived of sex/intimacy. If the couple has a good relationship and the other half is more traditional and loyal to each other, that's fine. Otherwise, it is only a matter of time before it is capped.
The old captain who used to work together chatted that his wife had given birth to a child and he couldn't go back at sea. He retired at the age of 60, and his wife could not forget the injury when he quarreled with her.
The child grew up in a semi-single parent family. It's strange for children to look at their father when they get home.
Parents cannot take care of themselves when they are old. Many old crew members' parents died and were not present.
Social circles have almost disappeared. Family members can't keep in touch often, let alone relatives and friends.
Talking about social status: China is a land ownership country based on farming in history. Just as farming is China's racial talent, sailing is rooted in the genes of the Angles. For us, wealth comes from land, and for western traditional sea power countries, wealth comes from navigation and plunder.
Therefore, China lacks the sailing tradition of western countries, and most people who grew up in inland provinces know little about sailing. Different from European countries, seafarers' profession is widely recognized by society (because western powers made their fortune by building ships and guns), and China seafarers are only a small invisible group in society.
Danger on board: The danger faced by the crew is not only that they are easily injured by work-related injuries, falling into the water, wind and waves, and sinking ships, but also that they are not treated in time after the accident. The ship is always in the production (sailing) state. If the ship was on the shore when the work injury/illness/accident happened, it would be a blessing in disguise. If it is in the middle of the ocean, the ship can only do the most basic first aid, and then the patient can only hold on until the ship is close to the port. Because there are no professional doctors and equipment on board, there is no way to delay the illness.
Talk about the advantages of this job.
Crew members give people the impression of high salary, not only because the average salary is higher than that on land, but also because money can't be spent on the ship and it is easy to save, and there is no necessary expense for living on land, so many crew members come back with hundreds of thousands or even 200,000 or 300,000 cash after completing a ship (the higher the position on the ship, the higher the salary).
There is also an upper limit to the promotion of the position/income of the crew, even if it is around forty, it is not so outrageous. We often say that it is easier to get rid of poverty than to get rich with this salary.
There are many beautiful scenery on the sea. At first, the first reaction of the crew to see the beautiful scenery was to share it with their families, but they could not contact each other. Then they can only watch the scenery alone and taste the loneliness that comes to their hearts. Then I gradually became numb. It's more about its wonderful moment and who to talk to.
Personally, I suggest that you can be a sailor if you choose a career, but don't be a sailor all your life. For children with ordinary family conditions, running a boat for a few years can solve the down payment problem of your garage to a certain extent, but after 30 years old, you can switch to shore in time.
It's too expensive to be with the sea all your life. No matter how much money a sailor earns, it is difficult for him to enjoy his own consumption.
From a big perspective, even if you are the captain/chief engineer and buy a luxury car villa on the ship's salary, most of the time people will not drive and will not live at sea. Small aspects: hot pot, crayfish, ice cream barbecue, such a small blessing, has nothing to do with you.
What's more, 80% of the jobs on the ship are not much higher than those on land, and the remaining 20% of the high-paying jobs need to endure for a long time before they can be promoted. By the time you get such a high salary, most of your life will have passed.
Generally speaking, this job as a sailor obliterates all the possibilities of life.
Just like the star in Interstellar's movie that is too close to the black hole, the hostess said that life is a series of unexpected accumulations, but the huge gravity of the black hole erases those accidents. Just as the crew has been separated from family and society for many years, life has changed from thousands of colors to only one monochrome.