Talk:Sea captain/Archive 1

Merge suggested
I feel pretty confident that merging this page with Master Mariner makes sense. Any thoughts? Haus42 01:36, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I think a merge is required. Personally I hate parenthesised titles. I've found my way here from creating a redirect at shipmaster. That would be my choice of title. But in the meantime go for it. Merge Sea Captain into here. That should be easy. Then try master mariner. But go for it. Frelke 07:21, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
 * OK. I've done Sea Captain. If you want any help with Master Mariner just shout. Frelke 07:27, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I completed the merge as per without getting rid of much material at all. It's still a little too section-ey for my tastes, but I think the redundancy is much lower.  Cheers. Haus42 22:44, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Unsourced claim
I'm going to conditionally remove this: "A captain does, however, have the legal right to administer morphine to a patient, a legal right shared only with doctors and pharmacists." I think this may have been true pre-Inmarsat. For example, corpsmen can administer morphine. Haus42 16:30, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Well I personally administered pain killers by intramuscular injection many years ago as 2nd Mate. It was prescribed by a shore-based doctor prior to leaving port. So I think "administer" is probably is probably the wrong verb. It may well be that "prescribe" is more correct. I could understand the master having the right to decide that a patient could "use" morphine. But I don't believe that administration of the drug is the issue. Leave it out. If objections are raised it can come back. Frelke 22:18, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

List of sea captains
I merged the 2 lists at the bottom to List of sea captains which I just stumbled over. If anyone has any strong objections, please feel free to revert. Cheers. H aus  Talk  20:09, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Captain (naval)
A little over 3 months ago, Captain (naval) was split off from Captain. The fact that that article exists gives us some room to tailor this article more towards merchant captains, rather than having to try to straddle the naval and merchant worlds. While there is some overlap (especially in the Cinque Ports and wartime eras), treating the overlap as the exception rather than the rule will allow us to focus on the history and business of being a ship's master. Any feelings before I start changing things around? Cheers. H aus  Talk  15:03, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Is the globalise tag justified?
I'm not convinced that this article is unduly UK centric. The fact is that the UK was the dominant naval and merchant marine power in the era in which modern conventions were established, so it is naturally at the centre of the historical sections of the article. Wimstead (talk) 19:43, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I admit my own bias, but I feel that the article is very UK specific as it is right now, especially in areas dealing with current terms and industry norms. UK-specific references abound.  The article currently has a strong prose style, also.  I'll try to start thinking of ways to approach from a global perspective. --Pesco (talk) 06:41, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

This information is pertinent to the US Merchant Mariner as well as the UK mariner. You should remove the tag. Not that the US and UK comprise the world, but much of the worlds shipping laws and customs were based on early British customs and laws so I'm guessing that it covers quite a bit of the worlds shipping. Acruxksa (talk) 23:10, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Can someone qualified re-write this? It's total rubbish
Look, as one quick example where it talks about the range of powers of a captain- including what should be on the the flaming dinner menu...

"Sorry Commodore I ran the ship aground. I was deciding what would go well with beans." Come on... I mean, what does a pursor do for example? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.110.225.2 (talk) 01:33, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

another unsourced claim
i'm going to remove the line that says a captain can conduct a marriage on a ship registered to the (landlocked) Czech Republic —Preceding unsigned comment added by 1Rabid Monkey (talk • contribs) 14:00, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Career Path?
Can someone knowledgable add more info on the typical career paths and qualifications that a person will have to take to achieve the rank of Captain? What is the average age of a new captain? Do they climb through the ranks or are trained as a ship captain from the beginning? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.217.76.77 (talk) 00:57, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It varies. For an unlimited-tonnage cargo ship captain, one route would be maritime academy, third mate, second mate, chief mate, then captain.  If you graduate at 22, you could pass the chief mate/master test at 24 or 25.   H aus Talk 01:09, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

In the United States it requires one year of sea time for every step from 3rd. Mate to Master. A day of sea time is defined as 8hrs at sea so if you worked 360 days a year you could theoretically obtain your Unlimited Master's license in just over 3 years. In reality is takes closer to 5 years because most people rarely work more than 8 months a year and the Chief Mate/Masters test requires 12 weeks of additional classroom training. Becoming a Master Mariner at 25 would be considered young. There are some instances where 12hr days are worked which results in 1 1/2 days of sea time being credited for every day worked, but this isn't the norm. Also, don't confuse getting the license with becoming a Captain. Sailing as Captain of an unlimited tonnage ocean going ship at the age of 30 is quite an accomplishment.Acruxksa (talk) 23:06, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Skipper. mention, link or merge?
No mention is made of this term, or link to the article Skipper_(boating)--Mongreilf (talk) 18:33, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Sailing Master
Sailing Master redirects here, but the article mentions nothing about that rank of position. And at some point in history, there must have been a difference between a captain and a sailing master, or I wouldn't know a dozen books and films where there's a captain and a sailing master on the ship. -- 134.102.101.60 (talk) 23:42, 21 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree, I sent a note to User:Haus, who deleted it & I'm adding it back in, along with master's mates. Kirk (talk) 15:30, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * It was deleted again, replaced with a new section about Magister Navis(?). It deserves its own article, which I'll create soon.  In the meantime, can we keep sailing master in this article? Kirk (talk) 13:29, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

The Term Master Mariner
I have issue with the following sentence: "Currently, a U.S. Master Mariner License is reserved for issue to those few who have attained the level of Unlimited Master, as well as Unlimited Chief Engineer". If the term "Master Mariner" has been around since well before the invention of the engine why would someone need both a master unlimited and chief engineer's ticket to hold this title? Furthermore this article suggests that using the title this way is something specific to American masters. If so then why does the Council Of American Master Mariners not mention anything about holding a Chief Engineer's license on the CAMM membership page?

This discussion has been hashed out in a number of public forums including this example: [http://gcaptain dot com /forum/professional-mariner-forum/1580-term-master-mariner.html Master Mariner - The Term] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.148.52.55 (talk) 08:43, 8 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Here is a 1908 British text where "master mariner" is clearly defined as ship's captain. Haus Talk 04:07, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Interesting and very informative reddit thread on the subject
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9sszo/iama_captain_of_an_oil_tanker_amaa/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.139.15.112 (talk) 22:04, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Captains preforming mariages?
It might be nice if this article addressed the queestion of if (and when) ship masters can preform mariage ceremonies.

Basesurge (talk) 22:54, 22 October 2009 (UTC)


 * It was removed recently because it was unsourced, but I remember reading about this somewhere, I'll see what I can do (this time, with references.) Kirk (talk) 14:01, 23 October 2009 (UTC)


 * following the link on marriages (reference 28) to : US CFR 32:VI:700.716 (Dept of the Navy Regulations), the captain of a US NAVAL ship is not authorized to do marriages under any circumstances. That being said, all but the smallest USN ships carry at least one chaplain... I don't think that this regulation applies to Civilian Masters, who should be able to do marriages under their power as a Notary Public.

DocKrin (talk) 00:44, 18 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm sure that is sometimes done on cruise ships. Steve Dufour (talk) 17:32, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Marriage is a STATE and not a federal function. So, where is the marriage license issued if the Capt of the love boat marries you? Here is how it works: The state where the marriage license was issued has laws concerning who is approved to marry folks. If the state allows it, a capt can marry you but in fact, few states allow it. I am a licensed capt AND and minister and can marry you, but because of the latter. There was a time when a capt could marry under some state or counrty's laws, you but that is no longer the case in much of the world. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.135.76.209 (talk) 13:50, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

As far as I am aware it depends on the country of registration of the vessel94.4.64.58 (talk) 19:55, 27 August 2012 (UTC)


 * If the ship sailed under the flag of Scotland, then, yes, the captain could up till 2006: see Marriage in Scotland.--Jack Upland (talk) 15:59, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

Merger proposal
I have proposed merging Skipper (boating) here. That article is really just a discussion of the word "skipper." According to WP:Wikipedia is not a dictionary articles should be about things not words. This article tells us what a captain does. The one on skipper just explains uses of the word "skipper."Steve Dufour (talk) 17:32, 4 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm going to merge the articles unless someone objects. Steve Dufour (talk) 16:19, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

"Old Man"
I've known or met quite a few serving or former mariners who refer to the captain as "the Old Man". Does anyone know if this colloquialism is common enough (and sourcable enough) to be mentioned here? Wardog (talk) 13:05, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
 * it is still in use, and if I recall correctly, it is used in the Navy as well. Here's a reference if you want to add it: . Cheers.  Haus Talk 18:40, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Inland navigation
The terms Ship captain and Naval captain are redirected to Sea captain. If the article should deal with inland-navigation captains too, it should be renamed to more general name. --ŠJů (talk) 22:15, 6 January 2014 (UTC)
 * River craft traffic is a matter separate from the maritime navigation, and usually governed by completely different rules, either. See also articles riverboat and ship for further distinction, please.--2A00:1028:83BE:4392:9555:EFE4:499D:7D7D (talk) 17:09, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Marriages
The section on marriages is currently too concentrated on the situation in the:
 * a) United States and United Kingdom,
 * b) as of the present;

with little detail on this possibility globally and/or historically. --2A00:1028:83BE:4392:9555:EFE4:499D:7D7D (talk) 16:59, 3 August 2017 (UTC)