Ratings

Merchant Navy ratings are ship crew members who carry out duties on the deck, in the engine room and with the onboard catering services. They work on container vessels, bulk carriers, tankers, tugs, cruise liners and ferries. The nature of their duties depends on the department they work in, but all are fully trained in basic seagoing and survival skills.

As a deck rating you could be:

carrying out general maintenance, including the cleaning, polishing and painting of all surfaces in the deck area
checking and maintaining equipment such as deck machinery, loading winches and firefighting equipment
operating lifting gear, such as winches and cranes, to load and unload cargo
cleaning and inspecting cargo holds and tanks
taking part in fire and security patrols
helping to moor the ship in ports
assisting the officer of the watch with navigation duties and acting as lookout or steersman.

As an engine room rating you could be:

making sure the engine room machinery is kept in good order
carrying out routine cleaning, greasing, oiling and servicing of machinery
looking after electrical and safety systems, such as fire alarms and air conditioning
assisting the engineering officer of the watch by monitoring the safe running of the engineering plant and related equipment
in port, helping with refuelling by checking pumping controls and fuel gauges

As a catering rating you could be:

involved, either as a cook or as a steward, in providing food, drink and accommodation services on board ship
as a cook, preparing and cooking a wide variety of food, sometimes in very large quantities
as a cook, responsible for washing up and the cleaning of all equipment, work surfaces, walls and floors
as a steward, setting up tables, serving at tables and clearing away
as a steward, cleaning cabins and providing fresh linen, as well as ensuring that all public areas such as corridors, stairways and lounges are clean and tidy
overseeing the loading and storing of supplies while in port.

G.P. Rating:

In the present shipping with reduced manpower, the focus now lies on the combination of deck and engine rating. For this DG Shipping has made it compulsory to run an integrated course for deck and engine ratings. The course is named as General Purpose Rating (G.P Rating).

As per the directives of D.G. Shipping, separate deck and engine rating courses have been abolished with effect from 01st April 2003. G.P. Rating course is now mandatory for all aspirants wanting to join sea as deck or engine rating.

On successful completion of Pre-Sea training, the candidates will be able to join as a RATING in Indian & Foreign shipping companies as a Deck Crew or Engine Crew. The G.P.Rating candidate will be able to work in all seamanship activities on-board at deck side and other work at Engine side.