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Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels vs Sailors and Marine Oilers

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 Sailors and Marine Oilers 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 Sailors and Marine Oilers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$85,540
$49,610
Employment · BLS OEWS
35,390
31,360
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
42nd pct
15th pct

At a glance

Dimension Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels Sailors and Marine Oilers
Median pay $85,540 $49,610
Employment 35,390 31,360
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.5%) About average (+2.3%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 4,300 3,900
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 Low · 15th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 55th pct · 29% of tasks 15th pct · 14% 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: Transportation, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Public Safety and Security, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Far Vision, Operation and Control, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Control Precision, Near Vision, Speech Clarity, Speaking, Monitoring, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Perceptual Speed, Speech Recognition, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Judgment and Decision Making, Flexibility of Closure, Manual Dexterity, Depth Perception, Coordination, Complex Problem Solving, Visualization, Selective Attention.

Specific to Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels

  • Spatial Orientation
  • Written Comprehension
  • Mechanical
  • Written Expression
  • Law and Government
  • English Language
  • Geography
  • Reading Comprehension

Specific to Sailors and Marine Oilers

  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Auditory Attention
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Troubleshooting
  • Repairing
  • Reaction Time
  • Static Strength

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: Office suite software , Operating system software , Spreadsheet software , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Word processing software , Facilities management software , Data base user interface and query software .

Specific to Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels

Specific to Sailors and Marine Oilers

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels or Sailors and Marine Oilers — 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 Sailors and Marine Oilers." 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-sailors-and-marine-oilers

    APA

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

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-captains-mates-and-pilots-of-water-vessels-vs-sailors-and-marine-oilers,
  title  = {Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels vs Sailors and Marine Oilers},
  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-sailors-and-marine-oilers}
}

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