Merchant Marine Pay in 2026: What 2,019 Live Job Listings Reveal

A master's median pay runs EUR 6,850 a month in euro-denominated listings but USD 11,500 in dollar-denominated ones — a spread too wide to explain by exchange rates alone, according to 2,019 live maritime job ads analysed on 6 November 2026. The data comes from GP Solution, one of the leading job platforms for the maritime and offshore sectors, which listed 3,147 live marine jobs that day. Of those, 64% stated pay in the advert, giving a rare rank-by-rank view of what ship operators and crewing agencies actually offer.

What does the market pay overall?

Across all ranks, the 627 listings stating a monthly euro wage show a median of EUR 5,000, with the middle half between EUR 3,250 and EUR 6,850. The 553 listings quoting monthly dollars sit higher: a median of USD 8,000, with the middle half from USD 4,165 to USD 10,000. A further 424 listings quote daily rates, with a median of EUR 266 a day and a middle half of EUR 180 to EUR 358. The euro and dollar samples come from different parts of the market, so the figures are not converted into each other.

How do salaries break down by rank?

The rank-level medians show a steep ladder from deck to the top of the engine room:

• Master — EUR 6,850 median (middle half EUR 6,850–7,780) across 52 euro listings; USD 11,500 (USD 10,044–14,400) across 33 dollar listings; 152 of 233 live listings stated pay.
• Chief engineer — USD 10,500 median (USD 9,826–14,600) across 102 dollar listings; EUR 8,000 (EUR 7,554–9,100) across 65 euro listings; 242 of 367 listings stated pay.
• Second engineer — USD 9,000 median (USD 8,000–11,750) across 95 dollar listings; EUR 7,200 (EUR 6,700–7,700) across 55 euro listings.
• Able seaman — EUR 2,800 median monthly (EUR 2,400–3,954) across 55 listings, or EUR 175 a day (EUR 150–180) across 54 daily-rate listings.

Three patterns stand out. Demand concentrates in the engine room: chief engineer listings (367) and second engineer listings (315) both outnumber master listings (233). Second engineer ads disclose pay most often, at 72%, the highest share of any rank. And dollar contracts sit visibly higher at senior ranks, which is why the analysis advises comparing offers only within the same currency.

What lies beyond the headline wage?

Two offers with the same monthly figure can be worth very different amounts. The listings point to four checks before any comparison: currency and period, since a day rate, a monthly wage and a contract total are three different numbers; rotation, because the same wage on a long contract versus equal-time rotation means very different time at home; what is included, as overtime, leave pay, travel days and allowances are listed separately and excluded from these medians; and vessel type, since tankers, offshore support vessels and container ships hire from different pools.

For broader benchmarking, the analysis names four references for 2026: GP Solution's daily-updated salary pages by rank and country; ITF and IBF collective agreements, which set wage floors on covered ships; the ILO minimum for able seafarers, reviewed and published by the Joint Maritime Commission as a lower bound rather than a market rate; and crewing agencies, which can quote the current going rate for a given rank and vessel type.

The figures carry limits. They are offers stated in live listings, not a survey of what crews earn. Stated ranges count at their midpoint, groups smaller than 8 listings are excluded, and the numbers shift daily as vacancies open and close. For crewing teams setting rates and seafarers judging offers, the analysis concludes the only useful comparison is like for like: same rank, same currency, same period — a discipline that will matter more as wage data this granular becomes a daily reference for the industry.