Life at Sea: The Invisible Work That Keeps Global Trade Moving

Around 80 to 90 percent of all global trade and of what the western countries consume is transported by sea. Merchant ships are the backbone of the world economy, but the people who keep them moving remain largely invisible.

“Yet, most people, including academics, know very little about what actually happens on merchant vessels, and the maritime world,” says Marianna Betti, a social anthropologist at the University of Bergen.

A few years ago, Betti decided to find out. She conducted fieldwork on board three liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker ships, living among the crew at sea for months at a time. She observed daily routines and spoke with seafarers about work, technology, and life on board.
This type of fieldwork is unusual for an anthropologist.

“I went from knowing nothing, to becoming an expert on life and work at sea,” she says.

There are about 25 crew members on a ship like this, and ethnographic access to merchant vessels is rare.

“I think I can say I am among those few who have done the most extensive ethnographic work on tanker ships,” she says.

To do the research, Betti had to gain the crew’s trust and fully adhere to shipboard rules and routines.

“From the first moment, you’re not a passenger; you’re part of the crew. You must be fit to sail, respect the hierarchy, and be transparent about where you are and what you are doing at all times,” she says.

At first, her presence was met with curiosity, and sometimes suspicion.

“Some wondered if I was a company spy. But after a week the crew relaxed, and by the end of the month, I felt fully accepted and trusted, and I was always treated with the outmost respect” she says.

That trust and respect became foundational for her research.

“The conversations I had with the crew shaped my fieldwork. They told me which ships to visit next, and guided me into places I never would have thought to look, like a drydock in a shipyard, where ships are periodically called in to get fully inspected and maintained” she explains.

Life, labour and technology at sea

Betti says that one of the things she learned was that life on board a ship is constantly shaped by the interaction between the ocean, the vessel, the technology and the people who work there.

“Everything is connected and cannot be understood separately.”

Crews on merchant vessels are typically multinational and highly specialised. About half are officers, organised in a strict military hierarchy. Navigation officers work on the bridge, managing systems that steer the ship and handle the cargo. Engineers work deep in the engine room, maintaining massive machines spread across several decks.
“These systems are increasingly automated, and the work is becoming more complex and dependent on support from land,” Betti says, and adds:

“New softwares, alarm or electrified systems are often introduced to reduce crew numbers, but in reality it all demands new forms of expertise and creates new challenges.”

Her research has focused on how seafarers cope with constant technological change and the consequential reduction of crew staff, and how they make systems work in isolation under unpredictable conditions at sea.

When machines become “mature”

In her academic work, Betti argues that machines do not become safe or reliable simply because the technology is advanced or “smart”.

“What really makes a machine ‘mature’ is the long-term work humans do with it,” she says.

Engineers told her that it can take years for an engine to become mature and trustworthy.

“Only prolonged use in unpredictable environments reveals how machines actually behave. The crew collect data, diagnose problems, and adapt day after day. They share information among themselves and with other ships. Their constant testing and monitoring and the network of knowledge-sharing they have created is what turns innovation into something reliable.”

Betti has also written about the emotional relationships between engineers and machines.

“New engines are often described as ‘babies’ with growing pains. They have to be cared for, watched, and helped through early ‘illnesses’. This kinship language shows how deeply and emotionally people relate to the technologies they work with,” she says.

Who becomes a seafarer?

Motivations for choosing life at sea vary widely.

“For Filipinos, who make up about a third of the world’s seafarers, the motivation is often economic and tied to family obligations,” Betti explains.

“In Norway, it’s more about tradition. In places like Haugesund and Karmøy, seafaring runs in families. The same is also valid for the UK and Ireland, even though some maritime historians have also argued that many people in these places went to sea simply because they had no land. There are many reasons why people decide a career at sea, much of these stories have remained silenced”

While modern shipping allows little time ashore, the idea of adventure still plays a role.

“Being at sea for months is not just a job. It’s a commitment that shapes your entire life.
Life on board is about more than work. It’s your whole world,” Betti says.

“You live there, spend your free time there, and form close relationships. For many, internet access is limited, and some are away for months at a time. The ship becomes a second home, and the crew a second family.”

Risk, geopolitics, and the green shift

Betti expresses enormous respect for seafarers.

“They have always been an almost invisible part of society, yet what they do is extraordinary. Living on any kind of ship is dangerous. Weather alone can become suddenly life-threatening, and when something breaks, you are isolated. You must handle the situation yourself.”

Recent escalating geopolitical tensions are a reminder of this vulnerability.

“A seafarer I worked with shared a photo of barbed wire lining the deck as his ship passed near Somali waters,” she says.

“It’s a stark reminder of piracy and the many other risks seafarers face. Risks that we, on land, can only imagine”

The maritime sector is now under pressure to become greener. But Betti notes that many new systems are still experimental.

“They break down easily, leak, and create new kinds of risks for the people who operate them. I sometimes call this trend ‘green machines, black hands’,” she says.

But she is cautiously optimistic.

“The maritime sector must move in a greener direction, and it can. But to do so it cannot ignore the people who work with these technologies. The ocean has always been a testing ground for new machines, and seafarers’ knowledge is essential.”

Marianna Betti's current research work is funded by the Research Council of Norway through the project "Automation Shift in the Maritime Sector of the Oil and Gas Industry: assessing risk and safety, protecting labor" (ASMOG) led by Prof. Cecilie Vindal Ødegaard. 

References:

Marianna Betti. (2024) Maturing Machines: Technological Development and Situated Practices of Socialization Onboard Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Carriers. Public Anthropologist, 6(2), 372-403.

Ødegaard, C. V., & Betti, M. (2024). Automation and Extraction. Shifting (In) Visibilities at New Technological Frontiers: An Introduction. Public Anthropologist, 6(2), 225-244.