NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Todd Burgman, Cruise Ship Captain

We’ve met a lot of maritime professionals in Sea History, from historians to shipbuilders, artists to offshore racers, oceanographers to maritime attorneys, and more. The career most people think of when talking about maritime professionals is the ship captain. Even within that category, there are all kinds of captains. Some specialize in sailing vessels, others are tugboat captains, yacht skippers, etc.

We meet cruise ship captain Todd Burgman, whose path to the bridge started in childhood sailing in small boats on lakes and rivers near Omaha, Nebraska, hundreds of miles from the closest ocean.

Todd is a versatile captain, as comfortable on the bridge of a square-rigged ship as he is on a modern cruise ship. Above is the 360-foot barque Sea Cloud; Todd served as her captain for several years before his move to Mein Schiff. Photos courtesy of Captain Todd Burgman.

Even though he’s been boating for most of his life, Todd admits that “never in [his] wildest dreams” did he think he would pursue a career on the water. Instead, he went to college and studied engineering and finance. As a way to help pay for tuition, he enlisted in the US Coast Guard Reserve. As a reservist, he received training in seamanship and took classes in navigation and nautical studies. After graduation, he chose to finish his enlistment obligation in the Reserve versus the option of pursuing a career as a commissioned officer in the Coast Guard. Instead of a job on the water, he embarked on a career in finance.

How did someone working in the financial industry end up as a sea captain? Todd was working in a suit and tie by day and having fun sailing dinghies and keelboats during his time off. Then he started volunteering on large sail training ships. He put in enough time onboard that he was able to sit for the licensing exams that would qualify him to run vessels up to 100 gross tons.¹

During this time, he was living in New York City and working as a finance professor during the week and sailing as a schooner captain on the weekends. One year his employer allowed him time off for a sabbatical—perhaps a big mistake for them, but a great opportunity for Todd. He promptly headed to California and got a job as the first mate on a tall ship sailing along the West Coast. After six months, he was offered the captain’s job. He accepted and never looked back.

There are two paths to becoming a big-ship captain: going to a four-year maritime academy to get your start or taking the “hawsepiper” route.² The maritime academy student graduates with a bachelor’s degree and a junior officer’s license, plus the advantage of the school’s career placement office to help them get their first jobs. You can get there on your own without going to an academy by getting a job as an unlicensed deckhand or other entry-level position and accumulating “sea time.”

Mariners need documented time at sea before they can sit for the exams to get their first license or later upgrade their “ticket” so they can run larger vessels and in specific waters. There are licenses that restrict you to inland waters, near coastal waters, and then “all oceans.” Todd logged many years of experience and also completed several training courses. He now holds an Unlimited Masters License, the highest-level license you can get. It allows the licensee to command any ship without limitations based on tonnage, power, length, trade, or type.

Capt. Burgman works for the Mein Schiff cruise ship line, based in Germany. Its ships sail to destinations around the world. As the only American captain in the Mein Schiff fleet, it helps that he is fluent in German. Photos courtesy of Captain Todd Burgman.

Captain Burgman: I consider myself extremely lucky to have found a career that I truly enjoy. I am in command of a large and modern cruise ship equipped with leading-edge technology. I lead an incredible team of more than 1,000 shipmates from over forty different nations and get to visit beautiful and exciting destinations around the world.

Any cruise ship captain will tell you that the most enjoyable part of the job is actually driving the ship—maneuvering in and out of harbors and getting on and off the dock. The ship has one or two days at sea on a typical cruise, but a lot of the schedule has us coming into port early in the morning to give the passengers time onshore in different locations. My typical day begins with a wake-up call at 5 am. By 5:30 I am on the bridge where I receive a status report, followed by a briefing with the team about navigating the ship into the harbor and alongside the berth. At 6 am, the pilot comes aboard, and we are usually tied up by 7 am.

While Todd is the captain of the ship and thus is ultimately responsible for everything and everyone onboard, he tells us that maneuvering a large vessel is most definitely a team effort. The bridge is manned by senior and junior officers, and a pilot is there as well while they are making their approach to the dock or departing. Teams of deckhands are stationed at the bow and stern to handle mooring lines, and security personnel constantly watch for anything that might pose a problem, such as obstructions in the water or on the pier.

Captain Burgman: Navigating and maneuvering the ship is a critical part of the job. The captain is legally and morally responsible for the safe navigation of the vessel, and for the safety and well-being of everyone on board. But the administrative aspect of the job is also extremely important. A large cruise ship is like a floating city. We have our own power generation plant and water treatment plant, numerous restaurants and bars, a fitness center, swimming pools, a spa, a hair salon, a laundry and dry cleaner, a shopping mall, a basketball court, an art gallery, a hospital, a waste-management facility, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, tailors, financial controllers, IT experts, etc.

Once in port, the captain might meet with the senior management team, conduct safety drills, review and approve upcoming cruise tracks with the navigation officer, and perform various inspections throughout the ship. In port and underway, the captain also trains and mentors junior officers. At sea, Todd welcomes guests in the theater for the first evening show, hosts cocktail parties, and conducts a Q & A session with passengers. He tells us that he typically officiates at least one wedding per cruise!

An avid cyclist, Captain Burgman brings his bike onboard the ship, and he has cycled all over the world. Photos courtesy of Captain Todd Burgman.

Cruise ship captains rotate on a schedule where they are onboard three months and then off three months. While they are onboard, it is a consuming role. Todd works a 10-hour day and is on duty seven days a week.

Captain Burgman: It’s not all work and no play on board. I’m a fitness fanatic and enjoy running and cycling, which I can do both on and off the ship.

On a typical cruise in the Mediterranean, for example, I might get to do some road biking in Mallorca, a run in Marseilles, some mountain biking on Corsica, and another run in Ibiza. I also work out a few times each week in the extremely well-equipped fitness center, and I never have to go out for entertainment. We sail with musicians, dancers, singers, comedians, etc. It’s like living in a 5-star hotel. I don’t cook, clean, shop, do laundry, etc., and the food on board is amazing.

When Todd is off for three months at a time, his time is his own. He is not one to lie around the house, taking advantage of those long vacations to pursue his hobbies, like long-distance cycling trips across the United States and Europe. He also backpacks, sails in smaller boats, and even volunteers as a captain of a square-rigged tall ship.

It is a pretty great life, but one he has worked hard to achieve. And it isn’t for everyone. Not everyone can be gone from home for three months at a time on a regular basis. If you are interested in travel, love ships and the ocean, and can handle the pressure of being in charge of a floating city of sorts and all the people onboard, then it is entirely doable, whether you start out at a maritime academy for college or take the hawsepiper route.

¹ Gross tonnage measures a vessel’s internal volume. It does not refer to a vessel’s weight.

² A hawsepipe is the iron or steel pipe that passes through the hull through which the anchor chain is led. A hawsepiper is a slang term used to describe a ship’s officer who came up through the ranks vs. having gone to a maritime academy.