Licensed engineering officers in the merchant marine operate, maintain
and repair the engines, boilers, generators, pumps and other machinery on
ships.
Other marine engineers design shipboard machinery and engine rooms back
on dry land.
Marine engineers with degrees from schools of naval architecture or ocean
engineering design all kinds of vehicles and structures and systems. All must
be built to function properly in a harsh marine environment.
They design traditional ships, offshore production platforms, submersibles,
high-speed vessels and recreational craft.
The U.S. Coast Guard regulates the entry, training and educational requirements
of marine engineers. To qualify for a license, applicants graduate from the
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy or one of six state maritime academies, and pass
a written exam.
The maritime academy marine engineering programs are three-year diploma
or four-year bachelor's degree programs.
You can get an engineering license without attending an academy if you
have at least three years of sea experience and pass the test.
But it's not easy. "If you only work five or six months a year, it takes
a long time to get three years of sea time," says William Haynes. He is a
professor with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
Merchant marine engineers are hired through union hiring halls or directly
by shipping companies. They work on deep-sea merchant ships, tugboats, towboats,
ferries, dredges and research vessels. They can work on all kinds of waterways
-- oceans, lakes, rivers, harbors and canals.
A typical deep-sea merchant ship has a chief engineer and three assistant
engineers. Smaller vessels may employ only one.
"You go to sea with a ship and you're the head of the department -- the
boss," says marine engineer Laurie Doucet.
Engineering officers on ocean voyages have a day off for every day they
work -- usually three weeks on and three weeks off. They work 12-hour days,
five months of the year. On the other hand, an engineer working on a dredge
in-harbor may be home every night.
Most work for shipping companies, marine insurance companies, manufacturers
of boilers or related machinery. Many also have civilian jobs with the U.S.
Navy.
You have to be able-bodied to do this job, since you'll be climbing ladders.
And you can't be color-blind.
Competition for these jobs is high. Ships are getting larger, but automation
has kept crews small. The relative decline in jobs means unions are accepting
fewer new members.