Is rotation worth the pay cut?

Rotation is the thing most crew say they want and the thing least often examined honestly. Here's the trade in both directions. WHAT ROTATION BUYS Real life ashore. Relationships that survive. A gym routine, a doctor you see twice, a flat you actually live in. The ability to do this for a decade instead of three years. WHAT IT COSTS • Usually a lower annual figure than the equivalent permanent salary. • Fewer boats offer it, so your options narrow — it's most common at 50m+, and on engineering and senior deck first. • You share a role, which means handovers, and a boat that never quite belongs to you. • Two half-lives can be harder than one whole one, especially early on. THE PATTERNS 2:2 is the classic. 3:1 and 5:1 are common on smaller boats or as a stepping stone. What matters more than the ratio is whether it's genuinely honoured when a charter runs over. THE QUESTION TO ASK IN INTERVIEW "When did the current rotational crew last have their leave moved?" The answer tells you whether the rotation is real or aspirational. MY READ If you're in your first few years, permanent is usually the faster route to experience and tickets. If you're past thirty, or you have someone ashore who matters, rotation is often what makes staying in the industry possible at all. Rotational crew — was the pay cut worth it?