Odd jobs at the harbor?

January 6, 2016 12:53 AM

So I'm working on a piece of fiction, in which one of the characters needs to have a job at the harbor...

To be clear, not a job on a ship, just something at the port. It's a commercial port, so it's freight ships. The character is female and of a smallish build, so if it's physical work, it shouldn't be too extreme. There are no other specific requirements, thought it would be great if it was something unusual. I'll be visiting one such port soon, but thought to try ask here first. Any suggestions?

posted by breadfruit to Society & Culture (17 answers total)

Port dispatcher
posted by calgirl at 1:05 AM on January 6, 2016

Just a few that come to mind: port crane operator, agricultural pest control specialist, clerk, plumber / pluming inspector, public safety dispatcher, fingerprint classifier, welder.
posted by RichardP at 1:54 AM on January 6, 2016

A small female relative of mine was a chemical analyst at a harbour, testing imports of chemicals for customs.
posted by Thella at 3:31 AM on January 6, 2016

I don't know what this one kid was supposed to be doing in Subic Bay, but it didn't matter. He signed his check over to his boss and spent all day selling pot and barking for bars and shops.
posted by ridgerunner at 4:19 AM on January 6, 2016

A female character in The Wire was a port authority officer (basically, a police officer for the docks).
posted by mchorn at 5:20 AM on January 6, 2016

So, depending on how elaborate you want to get with her back story, the FBI (and some other law enforcement agencies) have dive teams for investigating underwater crimes. She could easily be posted to the harbour as part of an ongoing investigation.
posted by 256 at 5:46 AM on January 6, 2016

"What do you do for a living?"

"Oh, you know, I investigate underwater crimes."
posted by 256 at 5:48 AM on January 6, 2016 [4 favorites]

People gotta eat. She could work for a cafeteria or food service.

People also gotta do paperwork, and enter data into co!puters.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:50 AM on January 6, 2016

Is there fishing as well as freight? My wife's first job was cleaning fish on the Narragansett waterfront.
posted by mr vino at 5:53 AM on January 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Container ports employ pilots - their job is to boat out to the big ships and bring them into a berth. Sometimes from miles and miles out, if there are tricky waters to navigate.

edit: oh. not a job on a ship.
posted by entropone at 6:13 AM on January 6, 2016

A friend of mine used to inspect potash on railcars coming through the port.
posted by vespabelle at 6:53 AM on January 6, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks, guys. Nice answers. Fishing works too, mr vino.
posted by breadfruit at 6:58 AM on January 6, 2016

Ship's Agent.

Simplified, the representative for the vessel's owner (who would be hard pressed to have a staff in every-port-the-ship-could-possibly-visit, who is, in exchange for a fee, responsible for arranging all of the things that a ship needs while in port from pilots (mentioned above) and tugs, to customs' inspection, port state control (Coast Guard, in the US) clearance, agricultural compliance inspection, crew change, restock with food, toilet paper, arrange for slops/garbage disposal, etc, etc. They're working all hours, and are everywhere from on board the ships to sitting in the office. ... it also means they're the ultimate middleman, taking fire from the owners on one hand to the terminals on the other to every service provider in between...
posted by Seeba at 6:59 AM on January 6, 2016 [3 favorites]

I recently met someone whose niece had a job in Portland going around and buying certain fish that people caught. I think maybe they were unwanted fish or something—like an invasive species, or... Anyway, she spent the day driving around to different fishing places, asked people if she could look at their catch, and then offered to buy (at a good price, I believe) any of these "bad" fish.
posted by blueberry at 7:07 AM on January 6, 2016

Travel Lift operator?
posted by humboldt32 at 8:57 AM on January 6, 2016

The character is female and of a smallish build, so if it's physical work, it shouldn't be too extreme. There are no other specific requirements, thought it would be great if it was something unusual.

She could be an underwater welder. Women are sometimes favored for certain welding jobs because they're small enough to get inside pipes.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:01 AM on January 6, 2016

Can she have a little food cart of some sort to feed the dock workers and sailors or whatever? Captive audience at lunch time, right?
posted by AppleTurnover at 8:56 PM on January 6, 2016