Continuing our first blog into the AVIT engineer/officer on superyachts , now will guide you thru a basic description of a very common (unfortunately), still yet, mixed up between AVIT and ETO titles.
You may find various good descriptions of the jobs as on WilsonHalligan website. Unfortunately, many recruiters are still posting AVIT and ETO jobs positions with mixed up titles & duties, making the novice job-hunters quite confused.
AVIT – is the officer/engineer onboard in charge of the entire Audio-Video entertaining equipment and IT/Networking plus Satellite Comms (Vsat/TVRO). And everything between, starting from the CCTV to DJ consoles, from direct customer service to contractors, refit & shipyard planning.
These days… is one of the most important positions onboard simply because almost our entirely business & life goes thru the cyber-world internet. Your VVIPs may nicely survive a couple of hours without AC or toilette system… but cut off their internet for 1 minute and you’ll see the difference. Let the crew without internet for half day… and you’ll have a mutiny onboard 😉
ETO – is the engineer in charge of the, let’s say, in very few words… 110/220V and up. It is a critical job onboard as everything is run by electricity.
And now… let’s go into the overlapping grey area between the AVIT & ETO. On “smaller” yachts, 65… 90m LOA, you might find a position with somehow both duties combined. Being AVIT as 1st job and partially/”light” ETO/electrical & engine basic duties. You might do, apart of your main AVIT duties, some basic electrical maintenance (lightning system), bridge & navigation equipment, radars, GMDSS etc. Or the other way around – electrical as 1st duties with complementary AVIT jobs.
Engine watchkeeping might (while alongside/off operation) be on your duty list too. Engine team is small, working and supporting each other, which makes a great environment to work.
On larger yachts, +90… +100m LOA, the engine team is getting substantially bigger therefore, your job can be dedicated only to AVIT and the ETO team is separate (CETO, ETO, Asst Electrician). As AVIT you might have even a 2nd AVIT onboard, in case of a very large superyachts with heavy 24hrs around the clock operations.
As AVIT, you’ll (mainly) report to Chief Engineer or Chief ETO. And Master, of course.
Some jobs onboard may be shared between the AVIT & ETO department: for example, the ETO are taking care of the CCTV cameras & security doors while the AVIT are looking after the networking components of the respective systems.
About the AVIT Officer/Engineer job description, shore technical support, required qualifications & experience, working schedule & life onboard, tips for getting a job, comparison between the job onboard superyachts & cruise ships, and more, in our next blogs.
Stay tuned & stay safe!
Costa