A professional who commands tugboat to tow barges and ships into and out of harbors, estuaries, straits, and sounds, and on rivers, lakes, and bays. Responsibilities include:

• Signals workers on deck to rig towlines to barges or ship to be towed.
• Determines course and towing speed on basis of specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, tides, and current.
• Steers tugboat to push or pull barges to destination and to berth and unberth ships, avoiding reefs, outlying shoals, and other hazards to shipping, utilizing navigation devices, such as radar, sonic depth finder, compass and sextant and aids to navigation, such as lighthouses and buoys.
• Directs placement of suction hose or siphon to pump water from hold of barge, and signals workers to repair leak.
• Is required to hold license issued by U.S.
• Coast Guard.