Skip to content
Singulariki

Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels vs Riggers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels and Riggers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels Riggers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$85,540
$62,060
Employment · BLS OEWS
35,390
24,190
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
42nd pct
61st pct

At a glance

Dimension Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels Riggers
Median pay $85,540 $62,060
Employment 35,390 24,190
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.5%) About average (+3.2%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 4,300 2,500
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Moderate · 42nd pct Moderate · 61st pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 55th pct · 29% of tasks 10th pct · 13% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Public Safety and Security, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Far Vision, Operation and Control, Written Comprehension, Control Precision, Near Vision, Speaking, Monitoring, Information Ordering, Speech Recognition, Mechanical, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Judgment and Decision Making, Manual Dexterity, Depth Perception, English Language, Reading Comprehension, Coordination, Complex Problem Solving, Visualization.

Specific to Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels

  • Transportation
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Speech Clarity
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Written Expression
  • Flexibility of Closure

Specific to Riggers

  • Production and Processing
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Administration and Management
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Design
  • Education and Training
  • Trunk Strength
  • Engineering and Technology

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Computer aided design CAD software , Spreadsheet software , Electronic mail software , Word processing software .

Specific to Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels

Specific to Riggers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels or Riggers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels vs Riggers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/captains-mates-and-pilots-of-water-vessels-vs-riggers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels vs Riggers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/captains-mates-and-pilots-of-water-vessels-vs-riggers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-captains-mates-and-pilots-of-water-vessels-vs-riggers,
  title  = {Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels vs Riggers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/captains-mates-and-pilots-of-water-vessels-vs-riggers}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.