Ship Engineers
Supervise and coordinate activities of crew engaged in operating and maintaining engines, boilers, deck machinery, and electrical, sanitary, and refrigeration equipment aboard ship.
Most important skills
- Critical Thinking
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Repairing
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Engineering and Technology
- Public Safety and Security
- Transportation
- Mathematics
- Computers and Electronics
- Building and Construction
What the work involves
- Monitor the availability, use, or condition of lifesaving equipment or pollution preventatives to ensure that international regulations are followed.
- Monitor engine, machinery, or equipment indicators when vessels are underway, and report abnormalities to appropriate shipboard staff.
- Maintain electrical power, heating, ventilation, refrigeration, water, or sewerage systems.
- 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.
- Perform or participate in emergency drills, as required.
- Maintain complete records of engineering department activities, including machine operations.
- Start engines to propel ships, and regulate engines and power transmissions to control speeds of ships, according to directions from captains or bridge computers.
- Monitor and test operations of engines or other equipment so that malfunctions and their causes can be identified.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (48% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (44.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (43.2%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Ship Engineers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 77% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 72% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 57% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 65% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 54% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 68% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 53% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 97% of occupations compared | 80% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 15.71%
- Contact with others about half the time: 15.09%
- Contact with others most of the time: 26.17%
- Constant contact with others: 43.02%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 6.24%
- Important: 19.58%
- Very important: 22.82%
- Extremely important: 17.55%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 2.12%
- Very important: 60.2%
- Extremely important: 37.68%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 4.44%
- Very little freedom: 9.36%
- Limited freedom: 9.36%
- Some freedom: 37.68%
- A lot of freedom: 39.16%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.51%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.82%
- Every day: 34.58%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 8.19%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.19%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 51.89%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.93%
- Every day: 13.8%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 13.92%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.5%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 38.85%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.29%
- Every day: 4.44%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 0%
- Fairly serious: 16.04%
- Serious: 0%
- Very serious: 4.44%
- Extremely serious: 79.52%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 53-5031.00 · SOC 53-5031 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8