I understand the analogy, but we would have to look to something as close to our
spaceships as we can get, to get an apples to apples comparison.
What do you think about using naval crewing to try and figure out how much crew a
spaceship would have?
I think a great comparison would be a freighter, because like our 10 kt tank idea,
it is cargo that mostly just sits there, so it is an apples to apples comparison.
From understanding freighter ship crewing, we can get a good real world approximation, that
would be based on fact and not speculation.
Q: "What was the typical crew of a cargo ship composed of?"
A: "Josiah Toepfer, Commercial Ship Inspector/Auditor, Shipping Regulatory Expert, Former Mariner
Written Jun 6, 2016
It all depends on the size of the vessel, its equipment, and the cargo its designed to carry.
The required crew size will be dictated by a document called the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate.
This document dictates the minimum number of personnel necessary to safely navigate and operate
the vessel from point A to point B, but often does take into account other things such as company
administrative requirements. A vessel will often have more crew than is required by the Minimum
Safe Manning Certificate to distribute the work load and allow the crew to get adequate rest and
perform all necessary maintenance and administrative tasks.
Typically a vessel will require:
1 Master - Overall in charge of the vessel
1 Chief Officer - In charge of the Deck Department and Cargo Operations; also stands a navigation
watch.
1–2 Deck Officers - In charge of navigation watches. The Second Officer will typically be in charge
of all bridge administration activities like updating charts and performing routine radio checks.
The Third Officer will typically be in charge of all lifesaving and firefighting appliances such
as ensuring the lifeboat is properly stocked and working and firefighting suits are properly maintained.
1 Chief Engineer - Overall in charge of the Engine Department and operation of the ship’s engineering
plant.
1 Second Engineer - Assists the Chief Engineer with the running the engine department, stands an
engineering watch (if necessary) and is in charge of all major auxiliary equipment.
1–2 Engineering Officers - In charge of engineering watches (if necessary), assists with running the
engineering plant and auxiliary equipment.
2–6 Deck Ratings - Assist in navigation watches, maintaining deck, lifesaving, and cargo equipment,
and running cargo operations.
2–6 Engine Ratings - Assist in engineering watches, maintaining engineering equipment, and running
engineering operations
1 Chief Cook - In charge of the galley and stores, cooking meals for the crew, and ensuring stores
are ordered as necessary
1 Steward - Assists the Chief Cook with any cooking or work in the galley, including cleaning and
maintaining equipment, serves the officers and crew.
Each company and ship operates a little differently. For example, some companies employ a junior
officer whose sole responsibility is to handle administrative items. Some vessels have specialized
engineering plants where watchstanders are not required, and so the number of Engineering Officers
and Ratings is reduced. Further, some ships have such specialized cargo, such Liquefied Natural Gas,
that they have a a Cargo Officer or Engineer whose sole responsibility is the operation of the cargo
plant. Size is less of a factor than cargo, because vessels must still have the personnel to operate
24x7, regardless of size. That is why you can have an enormous 1000 foot LNG carrier with 22 crew and
500 foot bulk carrier with 27 crew."
www.quora.com/What-was-the-typical-crew-of-a-cargo-ship-composed-of
