A marine oiler works on sea vessels, and provides a general maintenance for the vessel’s engine and mechanical parts. The job includes oiling the different parts of the engine, ensuring everything is running in order and smoothly, and checking the oil levels in machines where this is appropriate. Additionally, a marine oiler may be tasked with some extra duties, such as taking measurements from the various machines on the vessel, and recording those measurements in logs, as well as organizing those logs in an accessible manner.
The job of a marine oiler is mostly a manual labor type one, so it doesn’t have any high educational requirements. Most of the skills required to perform it properly are learned in the course of employment, and as a whole it doesn’t take long to become good at it. Marine oilers typically have good chances to progress to higher mechanics-related positions on the same vessel, which is actually the main reason for choosing the job in the first place in many cases.
A marine oiler can earn rather well, especially with regards to the workload attached to the job. The average annual salary is between $41,000 – $62,000, and the job’s working hours are often flexible and well-adjusted, in order to tailor to the employees’ needs. Additionally, there are some good bonuses often attached to the job of a marine oiler, especially health-related ones (due to the somewhat hazardous nature of the job at times), making it an all-around attractive choice for many people.