Ship Engineers
Propulsion and auxiliary-system operation, equipment monitoring, and engineering casualty control directly overlap with shipboard engineering work.
How to prepare: Assemble an official sea-service transcript or assignment history with vessel particulars, underway time, and duties for Coast Guard evaluation against the intended engine endorsement; a DD-214 alone is not acceptable sea-service evidence. Officer entry requires qualifying experience and Coast Guard approval of health, citizenship, training, professional competence, and drug-testing qualifications; most jobs also require TWIC and an MMC with appropriate endorsements, and open-ocean service requires USCG-verified STCW training.
What the civilian work involves
- Monitor engine, machinery, or equipment indicators when vessels are underway, and report abnormalities to appropriate shipboard staff.
- Monitor and test operations of engines or other equipment so that malfunctions and their causes can be identified.
- Start engines to propel ships, and regulate engines and power transmissions to control speeds of ships, according to directions from captains or bridge computers.