cat /users/merc/ship/pars_rem.pl | ssh username:password@remoteserver "cat > /users/merc/tmp ; chmod 755 /users/sword/tmp ; /users/sword/tmp " 

##</code><code>##

Cannot write to a directory.
ksh: /users/merc: 0403-005 Cannot create the specified file.
ksh: /users/merc: 0403-006 Execute permission denied.