Also called: Liftboat Master, Self-Elevating Vessel Captain
Drives a Gulf of Mexico liftboat to an oil platform, lowers its three giant legs to the seafloor and jacks it up out of the water.
A liftboat is a ship and a work platform in one. The captain steers it out from Louisiana, positions it next to a platform, and carefully “pre-loads” the legs into the mud before raising the hull above the waves. Then crews use its crane for repairs while the captain watches the weather.
Usually 14 or 21 days on, same days off.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. Climb up from deckhand with sea time and USCG licenses.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Growing slowly. Tied to Gulf oil and gas maintenance and decommissioning.
Low risk for 10 years. Leg sensors and weather tools help, but positioning and jacking a liftboat stays a skilled human job.
Classes: Physics, Shop class, Earth science.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.