How To Become A Marine Underwriter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a marine underwriter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A Marine Underwriter is an individual that provides insurance coverage for boats, ships, and other marine vessels. Your responsibilities in this role may include helping owners to choose the right type of insurance cover for them. You also analyze variables that affect insurance such as the value of the freight, price of the boat, and the laws and policies of the countries that the vessel will be visiting. Based on this information, the marine underwriter prepares a valuation of the vessel, the cargo, its transport, and the crew.

Marine Underwriters are expected to be knowledgeable about the maritime laws of different locations and how they affect insurance costs. Although it is possible to become a Marine Underwriter with a bachelor's degree, advanced qualifications such as a Master's degree will be a good addition. A Marine Underwriter may earn as much as $139,000 yearly.

ScoreMarine UnderwriterUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $77,871

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.6

Growth Rate -4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 5.63%

Black or African American 8.07%

Hispanic or Latino 10.53%

Unknown 2.52%

White 72.88%

Gender

female 40.52%

male 59.48%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.6

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.5

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a marine underwriter

Explore marine underwriter education requirements

Most common marine underwriter degrees

Bachelor's

76.9 %

Associate

9.0 %

Master's

7.7 %

Start to develop specific marine underwriter skills

Skills	Percentages
Profitable Business	25.01%
Risk Analysis	16.57%
Loss Ratio	12.69%
Business Development	9.71%
Underwriting Authority	7.78%

Complete relevant marine underwriter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New marine underwriters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a marine underwriter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real marine underwriter resumes.

Research marine underwriter duties and responsibilities

Review individual mortgage origination/post origination documentation and perform database research.
Review individual mortgage origination/post origination documentation and perform database research.

Prepare your marine underwriter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your marine underwriter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a marine underwriter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Marine Underwriter Resume templates

Build a professional Marine Underwriter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Marine Underwriter resume.

Apply for marine underwriter jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a marine underwriter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do marine underwriters rate their job?