Ship Engineers
Operating and monitoring shipboard engineering systems, controlling casualties, and supervising engineering watches directly overlap with merchant-vessel engineering operations.
How to prepare: Submit an official sea-service transcript or assignment history, with vessel particulars and assigned duties, to the National Maritime Center for evaluation toward an appropriate engineering endorsement. Most jobs require a TWIC and an MMC with the appropriate endorsement; officer entry requires qualifying experience, approved training, professional competence, citizenship and medical qualifications, and drug testing, with USCG-verified STCW training for open-ocean service.
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.