Career: Ship Engineers
NOAA/Department of Commerce
Just by looking at a large modern ship, you can tell that it’s a complex feat of engineering. Engines, pumps, and electrical and ventilation systems must all work together to keep the vessel cutting through the water.
Now imagine you’re out in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight. You and the rest of the crew will want to be confident that the machinery below deck will keep your ship afloat. This responsibility falls to the ship engineers.
A ship engineer is responsible for maintaining and repairing a ship's equipment, including its engine, generators, boiler, and pumps as well as electrical, ventilation, heating, and refrigeration systems.
Did You Know?
- To take the U.S. Coast Guard license exam without having graduated from a merchant marine academy, you’ll need five to eight years of experience aboard ship.
Are You Ready To...?
- Stand watch over machinery for hours at a time as an assistant engineer
- Work under tight schedules when something goes wrong onboard and you’re under pressure to repair it quickly
- Spend long periods, perhaps months at a time, away from home
It Helps to Be...
Careful, conscientious, self-assured, practical, reliable, accurate, and a stickler for details.
Make High School Count
- Take college preparatory classes and try your hardest. Most members of the class of 2006 at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy were in the top twenty percent of their class.
- Take four years of math (including algebra; geometry; and trigonometry, precalculus or calculus) as well as physics and chemistry.
- Sign up for computer classes, mechanical drawing, and machine shop.
Did You Know?
- Most merchant marine ships have a team of four engineers, the chief engineer plus three assistants.
Outlook
Government economists expect job growth for ship engineers to be faster than the average for all jobs through 2018. There should be more job openings than qualified applicants.
Compensation
Salaries in water transportation can vary widely depending on the size and type of vessels involved. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average yearly salary for a ship engineer in 2009 was $69,420.
