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Ship Captain / Marine Officer
Commands ships carrying cargo or passengers across the world's oceans.
Did you know?
Around 80% of world trade travels by sea, according to UNCTAD, so ship captains really do keep the global economy moving.
How subjects help
- Mathematics: Plot a course using speed, time and distance so the ship arrives safely and on schedule.
- Physics: Load cargo evenly so the ship floats upright and stays stable in rough seas.
- Geography: Read charts of ocean currents, tides and shallow reefs to pick the safest route.
A famous name
Horatio Nelson: Royal Navy officer who became a ship's captain at 20 and commanded the British fleet at Trafalgar in 1805.
Try it yourself: Make a grid-reference treasure hunt
- Draw a bird's-eye map of one room or your garden. Rule a grid over it and number the columns along the bottom and the rows up the side.
- Mark a few landmarks, like the door or the sofa, and add an arrow showing north.
- Hide the object somewhere easy to reach, then write its grid reference: the column number first ("along the corridor"), then the row number ("up the stairs").
- Hand over only the map and the grid reference. Did your searcher find it straight away? If not, what would make your map clearer?
Ship officers and harbour pilots plot their position on charts using grid lines, so everyone on the bridge can say exactly where the ship is.
Adapted from Royal Geographical Society: Map skills: Year Six.
Also try: Test-fly two paper planes.
Known for it in
Norway, Greece, UK, Denmark, Singapore