Signal crew members or deckhands to rig tow lines, open or close gates or ramps, or pull guard chains across entries.

“Signal crew members or deckhands to rig tow lines, open or close gates or ramps, or pull guard chains across entries.” is a core task performed by Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels. Among the occupation's 30 rated tasks, workers place it 14th by importance (#17 most important). About 74% 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.

• Communicate with others about operational plans or activities. in Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

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

• Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards. · importance 5.0
• Prevent ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations. · importance 4.9
• Serve as a vessel's docking master upon arrival at a port or at a berth. · importance 4.9
• Consult maps, charts, weather reports, or navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements. · importance 4.8
• Steer and operate vessels, using radios, depth finders, radars, lights, buoys, or lighthouses. · importance 4.8
• Operate ship-to-shore radios to exchange information needed for ship operations. · importance 4.7
• Dock or undock vessels, sometimes maneuvering through narrow spaces, such as locks. · importance 4.7
• Stand watches on vessels during specified periods while vessels are under way. · importance 4.6
• Inspect vessels to ensure efficient and safe operation of vessels and equipment and conformance to regulations. · importance 4.6
• Read gauges to verify sufficient levels of hydraulic fluid, air pressure, or oxygen. · importance 4.6
• Tow and maneuver barges or signal tugboats to tow barges to destinations. · importance 4.5
• Report to appropriate authorities any violations of federal or state pilotage laws. · importance 4.5
• Provide assistance in maritime rescue operations. · importance 4.5
• Signal passing vessels, using whistles, flashing lights, flags, or radios. · importance 4.4

See all tasks on the Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels 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-23817,
  title  = {Signal crew members or deckhands to rig tow lines, open or close gates or ramps, or pull guard chains across entries.},
  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-23817}
}