Test equipment behind odd readings
Scan the engine gauges, and when one looks off, test the equipment to learn if something's wrong.
Career profile
Ship Engineer
Ship engineers run and maintain the equipment that moves a vessel and powers it.
One drifting gauge reading can set off a hunt for a fault and settle which job the engine team takes on next.
A day in the life
Fix a faulty pump
Find what broke in a pump and fix it, because one of the ship's systems needs it running.
Log readings and engine orders
Enter the readings and engine orders in the engineering log so whoever takes over can trace events.
Lead upkeep and check the result
Direct the crew's upkeep jobs, then check their finished repair holds up before you call it done.
Quick facts
Training beyond high school
United States · 2025–2035 projections release
$109,530 a year
United States · May 2025
2.7% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Training beyond high schoolTypical entry education is a postsecondary nondegree award. Academy and qualifying sea-service routes also exist.
Pay
$109,530 a yearNational median for ship engineers; equivalent to $52.66 an hour.
Outlook
2.7% projected growthAbout 900 openings per year nationally, averaged over 2025–2035.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You want to understand why a machine behaves differently.
- You can stay attentive through repeated checks.
- You like explaining a repair to someone else.
Things to weigh
- Noise, heat, and cramped working positions can make machinery work tiring.
- Deep-sea trips can mean weeks or months away from home, with work continuing every day aboard.
Where AI may help
On ships using connected engine-monitoring services, software can flag unusual readings. Artificial intelligence helps spot patterns that may signal a developing fault.
What people still lead
Engineers and shore specialists interpret the warning, choose a response, and carry out the physical repair.
What we can’t predict yet
How much troubleshooting shifts to software or shore specialists will depend on the machinery, connectivity, and faults these tools can reliably recognize.
Pay in context
Earnings
The national median is a useful benchmark when you compare shipboard job offers.
The middle of the pay range
Ship engineers had median wages of $109,530 a year, equivalent to $52.66 an hour. Half earned more and half earned less; this is not a starting-pay estimate.
The national spread
The 10th-percentile wage was $57,870 a year and the 90th-percentile wage was $165,490. These mark the lower and upper ends of the middle 80% of wages, not beginner and senior pay grades.
Openings beyond new jobs
Employment is projected to grow 2.7% from 2025 to 2035. About 900 annual openings include replacement needs as well as growth, so openings outnumber newly added positions.
Getting started
Complete an approved academy engineering program
- What the route involves
- Graduate from the engineering program of a maritime academy recognized for this Coast Guard route.
- What it can lead to
- This satisfies an accepted preparation route for Third Assistant Engineer; the credential steps below still apply.
Build qualifying engine-room service
- What the route involves
- Accumulate three years of engine-room service, including two as a Qualified Member of the Engine Department (QMED) or equivalent.
- What it can lead to
- Accepted service can satisfy the experience route toward Third Assistant Engineer without academy graduation.
- What to check
- These are credited service years, not simply time since hiring. Keep sea-service records for Coast Guard evaluation.
Two routes toward a Third Assistant Engineer endorsement are academy study and qualifying engine-room experience.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization. This path also has a credential or licensing boundary; see the requirements and limits.
Learn your vessel
Get familiar with its engines, generators, and pumps, and build reliable engineering-log habits.
Take on harder faults
Build skill tracing problems across electrical and mechanical systems and organizing repairs.
Work toward Second Assistant Engineer
One qualifying route requires a year of assistant-engineer service while holding Third Assistant Engineer. Meeting the service requirement supports an upgrade application; it is not an automatic promotion.
Where you can work
Large ships on deep-sea routes
You work within an engineering department led by a chief engineer, with assistant engineers sharing machinery oversight. Voyages can keep you living and working aboard for weeks or months.
- Vehicle
- Travel
- Shift work
- Safety-sensitive
Smaller vessels
A small ship may have just one engineer. Machinery responsibility is concentrated, with fewer engineering colleagues aboard to divide it among.
- Vehicle
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Make a pretend engine-room log with several temperature and pressure readings over time. Change one trend, then write a short handover explaining what changed and what information you would want next. Notice whether tracking clues and explaining them interests you.
Stay safe: Keep this a paper exercise; invented readings are not operating limits for real machinery.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Ship Engineers — 53-5031.00. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Water Transportation Workers — ship-engineer duties and applicable vessel context. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — national Ship Engineers estimates, pinned binding. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Projections Table 1.2, 2025–2035 — Ship Engineers, pinned binding. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Coast Guard / Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 46 CFR 11.516 — Third Assistant Engineer service requirements. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- U.S. Coast Guard / Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 46 CFR 11.201 — General requirements for officer endorsements. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- U.S. Coast Guard / Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 46 CFR 11.514 — Second Assistant Engineer service requirements. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- Wärtsilä. Expert Insight service. Accessed 2026-10-10.