IF AN UNCONVENTIONAL LIFE APPEALS to you, keep reading. Merchant mariners - the collective name for captains, mates and pilots of water vessels - spend much of their careers at sea, on lakes or rivers moving the people and goods that make the global economy go. That's a far cry from a daily commute to an office cubicle. You may not know much about the maritime industry or the careers it offers. You imagine huge seaports in distant lands. The truth is about 95 percent of all international trade moves by sea. Ninety-five percent of everything around you that wasn't made in the continental United States (or Canada and Mexico, both of which ship most goods to the U.S. on trucks or trains) got to American shores on a ship. To say that the maritime industry is critical to the functioning of a modern economy would be a gross understatement. You could be a part of this very important industry. This new Careers Ebook contains a wealth of unbiased information about an occupational field, based on the latest national surveys. Careers Ebooks cover attractive and unattractive sides, opportunities, education necessary, personal qualifications required, earnings, descriptions of different job specialties, first person accounts by those in the field, and how to get started; including practical advice on what to do now. There are live links to schools and colleges, associations, periodicals and other sources of reliable information.