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Ship Engineers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Supervise and coordinate activities of crew engaged in operating and maintaining engines, boilers, deck machinery, and electrical, sanitary, and refrigeration equipment aboard ship.

Related: Hydroelectric Plant Technicians Maintenance & Repair Workers, General Marine Engineers & Naval Architects Sailors & Marine Oilers Stationary Engineers & Boiler Operators

Industries: Transportation & Storage Government

Summary
Details

Order and receive engine room stores, such as oil or spare parts, maintain inventories, and record usage of supplies.
Fabricate engine replacement parts, such as valves, stay rods, or bolts, using metalworking machinery.
Perform general marine vessel maintenance or repair work, such as repairing leaks, finishing interiors, refueling, or maintaining decks.
Maintain electrical power, heating, ventilation, refrigeration, water, or sewerage systems.
Supervise marine engine technicians engaged in the maintenance or repair of mechanical or electrical marine vessels, and inspect their work to ensure that it is performed properly.
Order and receive engine room stores, such as oil or spare parts, maintain inventories, and record usage of supplies.
Monitor the availability, use, or condition of lifesaving equipment or pollution preventatives to ensure that international regulations are followed.
Act as a liaison between a ship's captain and shore personnel to ensure that schedules and budgets are maintained and that the ship is operated safely and efficiently.
Clean engine parts and keep engine rooms clean.
Monitor and test operations of engines or other equipment so that malfunctions and their causes can be identified.
Record orders for changes in ship speed or direction, and note gauge readings or test data, such as revolutions per minute or voltage output, in engineering logs or bellbooks.
Clean engine parts and keep engine rooms clean.
Operate or maintain off-loading liquid pumps or valves.
Monitor engine, machinery, or equipment indicators when vessels are underway, and report abnormalities to appropriate shipboard staff.
Maintain or repair engines, electric motors, pumps, winches, or other mechanical or electrical equipment, or assist other crew members with maintenance or repair duties.
Maintain complete records of engineering department activities, including machine operations.
Install engine controls, propeller shafts, or propellers.
Monitor engine, machinery, or equipment indicators when vessels are underway, and report abnormalities to appropriate shipboard staff.
Start engines to propel ships, and regulate engines and power transmissions to control speeds of ships, according to directions from captains or bridge computers.
Perform or participate in emergency drills, as required.

Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.

Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.

Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

Education

Postsecondary certificate

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

96390/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

46.34/hr

Currently Employed

940

Yearly Projected Openings

120

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Leadership Orientation
Perseverance
Stress Tolerance
Self-Control
Cautiousness
Integrity

Adjustable widemouth pliers
Allen wrench
Ball peen hammer
Box end wrenches
Calipers
Claw hammer
Cold chisels
Combination pliers
Combination wrenches
Commercial water heaters
Condensing units
Cross and straight pein hammer
Curved nose pliers
Depth gauges
Diagonal cut pliers
Dial indicator or dial gauge
Diesel engines
Electric boilers
End cut pliers
Evaporative coolers
Feeler gauges
Fire suppression system
Flat hand file
Flat nose pliers
Fuel pumps
Gas generators
Goggles
Hacksaw
Hammers
Hex keys
Inspection mirror
Jigsaw
Longnose pliers
Mallets
Micrometers
Mobile medical services first aid kits
Multimeters
Nut drivers
Open end wrenches
Pipe or tube cutter
Plasma cutting machine
Power chippers
Power drills
Power flaring tool
Power grinders
Power sanders
Pullers
Punches or nail sets or drifts
Ratchets
Razor knives
Rivet tools
Round nose pliers
Rubber mallet
Screwdrivers
Shears
Sledge hammer
Slip joint pliers
Sludge or sewage removal equipment
Socket attachments and accessories
Socket sets
Sockets
Stationary separation equipment or parts or screens
Strain gauges
Strap wrenches
Sump pumps
Taps
Tinners snips
Torque wrenches
Tracer or duplicating or contouring lathe
Turbine engines
Water pumps
Welder gloves
Welder torch
Welding masks
Wire brushes
Wire twister

Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base user interface and query software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise application integration software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Facilities management software
Helpdesk or call center software
Industrial control software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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