Career in Marine Engineering

Marine Engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with nautical architecture and science. The term Marine Engineering is meant for research conducted in oceans and coastal or inland waters connected to the sea. This is one field of engineering which is full of excitement and involves many other scientific disciplines. Marine Engineering courses deal with construction and maintenance of ships and other sailing vessels. The three professions, i.e. Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Ocean Engineering are inter related and are often confused with each other. Naval Architects are those who are involved with the basic ship design, starting from hull forms and overall arrangements, power requirements to structure and stability. Ocean Engineers study the ocean environment to determine the effects (in terms of wear and tear due to corrosion, rusting etc.) that the ocean would have on ships and other marine vehicles and structures. They may also design and operate stationary ocean platforms, or manned or remote-operated sub-surface vehicles that are used for deep sea exploration. Marine Engineers have the complete responsibility of the ships' technical management. They are responsible for selecting the ships' machinery, which may include diesel engines, steam turbines, gas turbines; They are also required to chalk out the design of mechanical, electrical, fluid and control systems throughout the vessel. They are the members of the ships' crew who are in charge of managing a team of marine technicians and craftspeople. The main job obligations of a Marine Engineer are the construction, operations and maintenance of the engine room. This means that the Marine Engineer deals with the technical area of the ship. It can be easily said that they are in charge of the overall maintenance operation of the engine. They also play a vital role in maintaining the safety and standards of the marine body. With modern development and electronic navigation the role of Marine Engineers has smoothed out considerably. Apart from these technical jobs, Marine Engineers (because of the scientific advancements being made) are also conducting ambitious researches on subjects like:

1.Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Research.

2.Marine Renewable Energy Research.

The activities that are undertaken by a marine engineer involve offshore and onshore responsibilities and, thus arises the diversity in the different things that a marine engineer can do. When one considers onshore responsibilities then jobs involving the following activities arise

1. Designing propulsion systems for the ships

2. Designing the quarters for the crew, cargo bay and, therefore, an overall designing of the crew.

3. Designing support equipment

However, the task of marine engineers is not just limited to designing and, therefore, they also have to undertake the following activities apart from designing

1. Construction

2. Installation

3. Operation

4. Support

Onshore duties for a marine engineer include

1. Maintaining and operating the engines

2. Maintaining other infrastructural features of a vessel like

   1. Water systems

   2. Air conditioning

   3. Power generation etc.

 A four year B.E. in Marine Engineering is the basic educational qualification that one needs to become a Marine Engineer. This is one career which offers vast job opportunities including off shore jobs. The most attractive part of the job is the huge remuneration and the NRI status. There are innumerable job opportunities that are awaiting Marine Engineers and they have nearly 100 per cent placement rates.

Latest Engineering Admission Notice

Latest Engineering Exam Updates