5 Reasons Marine Engineering is an Excellent Career Option

You live in an exciting era, do you realize that? Thanks to developments in engineering fields, students today can pick from a number of careers that didn’t exist a century ago. Perhaps these roles are where your natural abilities can be applied best.

One of the lesser-known roles is a marine engineer. It incorporates features from different types of engineering such as civil, electrical and electronics.

The basic details below will help you decide if it’s the career option you’ve been looking for. Do these features seem appealing to you?

It’s Always Interesting

How many people can claim their jobs are interesting every day of the week? If you get the right job, it’s possible with marine engineering. 

What is Marine Engineering?

As with most engineering roles, your responsibilities will fall under one or all of these:

• Designing
• Development
• Innovation
• Production
• Maintenance

Your focus will be equipment that is used at sea. You can imagine sea rigs, boats and ships all have complicated internal systems, which include:

• Air conditioning
• Fuel systems
• Power generation
• Propulsion
• Water distillation
• Lubrication

You’ll use various engineering disciplines to develop or improve these systems, and you can work on board ships to maintain them. 

Where Will You Work?

Because seagoing vessels are used in various industries, you can take your pick about where you’ll work:

• Merchant vessels
• Navy vessels where you can combine your naval career with your technical qualifications
• Manufacturers of shipping equipment
• Oil industries

You can work on vessels themselves, but there are also shore job opportunities in:

• Hotels that incorporate sea vessels in their services
• Government organizations
• Shipping companies
• Training other marine engineers
• Marine engineering firms
• Boatbuilders

What Skills Do You Use?

You can already see your skill set has to cover a broad spectrum. You must be able to deal with many different challenges a ship’s complicated setup throws at you.

You’ll use:

• Science
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Math
• IT skills in order to use AutoCAD design software

You’ll need impressive SAT scores in these types of subjects to gain access to your undergraduate courses.

It’s not only your subjects that are important. A natural interest in maritime technology and mechanical aspects will help you stay focused & motivated. 

And don’t forget the personal skills you’ll need along the way:

• Problem-solving
• Communication
• Time management
• Leadership

 Unique Applications

What about combining some diverse interests into one career? If you want to use your marine engineering skills for something out of the ordinary, consider one of these:

• Naval architecture
• Oceanographic engineering
• Nautical science
• Cable laying
• Underwater vehicle research
• Renewable energy production

You Play an Important Role

Your future job satisfaction isn’t determined by work and salary only. Most people want to know they fulfill a purpose. You’ll experience this daily as a marine engineer because they’re so vital to many important processes in today’s world.

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The world’s industries rely on oil. And guess what’s used to transport oil. Ships. Your role as marine engineer determines whether industries can function.

You can also help ensure import and export activities run smoothly by keeping ships & machinery in working order. You help maintain commerce, but you also help keep ship workers’ lives safe. And if you help with new innovations you affect countries’ economies and people’s safety.

Some roles you may fill one day include:

• Ship engineer
• Port engineer
• Submarine engineer
• Naval combat engineer
• Marine equipment specialist

These are all worthy causes to invest your life in. 

Studies are Stimulating

Prepare yourself for a challenging, but riveting, degree experience. A specific focus in marine engineering studies is how engineering principles apply to seafaring vessels and oceanic features. 

You’ll start with a Bachelor of Science degree which normally takes four years. You’ll do subjects such as analytics, mechanics, marine structures and ship dynamics. After that, you may need additional licensing to fulfill certain roles such as Second Assistant or the eventually fulfill your role as Chief Engineer. But these regulations differ from country to country.

You can also pick specialization subjects if you discover an affinity for one of these:

• Technology management
• Logistics
• Aquaculture
• Naval operations

And you’ll love how these courses aren’t only focused on book learning. Thanks to many internship programs—initiated by universities and the industry—you’ll get practical experience throughout your course. These are essential for future job interviews, to prove you know what the career entails.

You’ll Have Many Career Options

Marine engineering is a smart option for people with different kinds of skills. These additional studies can open up a number of doors for you: 

• Become more specialized by doing a Masters or PhD. These will open up more professional career options.
• If you realize you want to change your focus, try including an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) in your future studies. This will benefit you if you want to attain a managerial position.A Doctor of Jurisprudence will focus on the legal side of maritime and engineering aspects.

Where does your passion lie?

You’ll Love the Salary

Thanks to their expert knowledge and experience of complicated subjects, marine engineers can demand reasonable salaries.

Isn’t that something to look forward to?

You can see marine engineers play essential roles in countries, economies, and industries. Reliance on seafaring vessels is increasing so there’s definite employment security now and for years to come.

Statistics show the need will grow by 9% by 2024. That’s another reason why this career choice makes sense. Ready to apply for your degree?