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How this researcher became an expert on life and work at sea

Marianna Betti lived with seafarers on tanker ships to gain insight into the work that keeps global trade running.

“I went from knowing nothing, to becoming an expert on life and work at sea,” Marianna Betti says.
Amanda Schei COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER
Presented by: Presented by: University of Bergen
Published

80 to 90 per cent of all global trade is transported by sea. Merchant ships are the backbone of the world economy, but the people who keep them moving remain largely invisible.

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

A few years ago, she decided to find out more. Betti 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.

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

There are about 25 crew members on such a ship, and ethnographic access of this nature – where a researcher fully immerses themselves in the daily lives and routines of the crew aboard merchant ships – is quite rare.

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

It was important that Betti managed to gain the crew’s trust. She had to follow the ship's 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.

Two engineers in orange coveralls work on machinery in an engine room workshop.
Here is the researcher working aboard one of the ships

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, work, 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,” she says.

Crews on merchant vessels are typically from many different countries and are 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 its cargo. Engineers work deep down 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, adding:

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

Bettit's research has focused on how seafarers cope with constant technological change and the consequences of ever smaller crews. 

She has looked at how they still manage to make the systems work in 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, monitoring, and knowledge-sharing is what turns innovation into something reliable,” she says.

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?

The reasons people choose a life at sea vary.

“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, she says. In places like Haugesund and Karmøy, seafaring runs in families. The same applies in 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 choose a career at sea, and many of these stories have not really been told,” she says.

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, adding:

“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 suddenly become life-threatening, and when something breaks, you are isolated. You must handle the situation yourself,” she says.

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

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.

Still, she remains 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,” she says.

References:

Betti, M. Maturing Machines: Technological Development and Situated Practices of Socialization Onboard Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Carriers, Public Anthropologist, 2024. DOI: 10.1163/25891715-bja10060

Ødegaard, C.V. & Betti, C. Automation and Extraction. Shifting (In) Visibilities at New Technological Frontiers: An Introduction, Public Anthropologist, 2024. DOI: 10.1163/25891715-bja10063

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