Skills
Ship Captain Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in ship captains, and how to build and show them.
What skills do ship captains need?
Ship Captains need technical skills such as navigation, ship handling, and radar and ecdis, plus people skills like leadership and decision-making. They also use tools such as ECDIS and Radar.
Technical (hard) skills
- Navigation
- Ship handling
- Radar and ECDIS
- Maritime law
- Cargo operations
- Emergency response
People (soft) skills
- Leadership
- Decision-making
- Calm under pressure
- Communication
Tools, equipment and technology
- ECDIS
- Radar
- GPS
- Radios
- AIS
- Engine controls
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how ship captains put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Navigation” and “Ship handling.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “leadership,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as USCG Master or Mate license near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our ship captain glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Ship Captain training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.