Chip and clean rust spots on decks, superstructures, or sides of ships, using wire brushes and hand or air chipping machines.

“Chip and clean rust spots on decks, superstructures, or sides of ships, using wire brushes and hand or air chipping machines.” is a core task performed by Sailors and Marine Oilers. Among the occupation's 28 rated tasks, workers place it 9th by importance (#20 most important). About 93% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. in Performing General Physical Activities

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Tie barges together into tow units for tugboats to handle, inspecting barges periodically during voyages and disconnecting them when destinations are reached. · importance 4.6
• Attach hoses and operate pumps to transfer substances to and from liquid cargo tanks. · importance 4.5
• Handle lines to moor vessels to wharfs, to tie up vessels to other vessels, or to rig towing lines. · importance 4.5
• Read pressure and temperature gauges or displays and record data in engineering logs. · importance 4.3
• Stand watch in ships' bows or bridge wings to look for obstructions in a ship's path or to locate navigational aids, such as buoys or lighthouses. · importance 4.2
• Maintain government-issued certifications, as required. · importance 4.2
• Examine machinery to verify specified pressures or lubricant flows. · importance 4.2
• Maintain a ship's engines under the direction of the ship's engineering officers. · importance 4.1
• Break out, rig, and stow cargo-handling gear, stationary rigging, or running gear. · importance 4.0
• Lubricate machinery, equipment, or engine parts, such as gears, shafts, or bearings. · importance 4.0
• Stand by wheels when ships are on automatic pilot, and verify accuracy of courses, using magnetic compasses. · importance 4.0
• Steer ships under the direction of commanders or navigating officers or direct helmsmen to steer, following designated courses. · importance 4.0
• Lower and man lifeboats when emergencies occur. · importance 4.0
• Relay specified signals to other ships, using visual signaling devices, such as blinker lights or semaphores. · importance 3.9

See all tasks on the Sailors and Marine Oilers page.

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.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-14473,
  title  = {Chip and clean rust spots on decks, superstructures, or sides of ships, using wire brushes and hand or air chipping machines.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-14473}
}