Transportation and Material Moving
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.
Also called: Boat Captain, Captain, Ferry Boat Captain, First Mate, Harbor Pilot, Mate
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $75,130
- $36.12/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 490
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- +10.0%
- 80 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- Less than 5 years of related work experience
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,630 | $63,000 | $75,130 | $101,240 | $127,720 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d do
- 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.
- Operate ship-to-shore radios to exchange information needed for ship operations.
AI and this job
AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.
Lower exposure32 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 35
- Language-model AIOE 24
- GPTs-are-GPTs 38
Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)
This job has lower AI exposure, and observed AI use is little or none today. AI tools may help with reading charts, weather reports, and navigation information. The captain's judgment, local knowledge, and responsibility for safe operations still rest with a person.
Likely to change
- Reviewing charts and weather reports
- Reading navigation equipment information
Still relies on people
- Directing the ship and crew safely
- Docking and making calls in unsafe conditions
Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.
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Training near Boston
College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).
No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.
Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.
Related occupations
Talk to a career coach
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