Marine engineering


Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circles as "ocean engineering". After completing this degree, one can join a ship as an officer in the engine department and eventually rise to the rank of chief engineer. This rank is one of the top ranks onboard and is equal to the rank of a ship's captain. Marine engineering is the highly preferred course to join the merchant Navy as an officer, as it provides ample opportunities in terms of both afloat and ashore jobs.
Marine engineering applies a number of engineering sciences, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering, and computer Engineering, to the development, design, operation and maintenance of watercraft propulsion and ocean systems. It includes but is not limited to power and propulsion plants, machinery, piping, automation and control systems for marine vehicles of any kind, as well as coastal and offshore structures.

History

is traditionally regarded as the first marine engineer, having developed a number of marine engineering systems in antiquity. Modern marine engineering dates back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
In 1807, Robert Fulton successfully used a steam engine to propel a vessel through the water. Fulton's ship used the engine to power a small wooden paddle wheel as its marine propulsion system. The integration of a steam engine into a watercraft to create a marine steam engine was the start of the marine engineering profession. Only twelve years after Fulton's Clermont had her first voyage, the Savannah marked the first sea voyage from America to Europe. Around 50 years later the steam powered paddle wheels had a peak with the creation of the Great Eastern, which was as big as one of the cargo ships of today, 700 feet in length, weighing 22,000 tons. Paddle steamers would become the front runners of the steamship industry for the next thirty years till the next type of propulsion came around.

Training

There are several educational paths to becoming a marine engineer, all of which includes earning a university or college degree, such as a Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Technology, Bachelor of Technology Management and Marine Engineering, or a Bachelor of Applied Science in Marine Engineering.
Depending on the country and jurisdiction, to be licensed as a Marine engineer, a Master's degree, such as a Master of Engineering, Master of Science, or Master of Applied Science may be required.
Some marine engineers join the profession laterally, entering from other disciplines, like Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Geomatics Engineering and Environmental Engineering, or from science-based fields, such as Geology, Geophysics, Physics, Geomatics, Earth Science, and Mathematics. To qualify as a marine engineer, those changing professions are required to earn a graduate Marine Engineering degree, such as an M.Eng, M.S., M.Sc., or M.A.Sc., after graduating from a different quantitative undergraduate program.
The fundamental subjects of marine engineering study usually include:

Naval architecture

In the engineering of seagoing vessels, naval architecture is concerned with the overall design of the ship and its propulsion through the water, while marine engineering ensures that the ship systems function as per the design. Although they have distinctive disciplines, naval architects and marine engineers often work side-by-side.

Ocean engineering (and combination with Marine engineering)

is concerned with other structures and systems in or adjacent to the ocean, including offshore platforms, coastal structures such as piers and harbors, and other ocean systems such as ocean wave energy conversion and underwater life-support systems. This in fact makes ocean engineering a distinctive field from marine engineering, which is concerned with the design and application of shipboard systems specifically. However, on account of its similar nomenclature and multiple overlapping core disciplines, "ocean engineering" sometimes operates under the umbrella term of "marine engineering", especially in industry and academia outside of the U.S. The same combination has been applied to the rest of this article.

Oceanography

Oceanography is a scientific field concerned with the acquisition and analysis of data to characterize the ocean. Although separate disciplines, marine engineering and oceanography are closely intertwined: marine engineers often use data gathered by oceanographers to inform their design and research, and oceanographers use tools designed by marine engineers to advance their understanding and exploration of the ocean.

Mechanical engineering

Marine engineering incorporates many aspects of mechanical engineering. One manifestation of this relationship lies in the design of shipboard propulsion systems. Mechanical engineers design the main propulsion plant, the powering and mechanization aspects of the ship functions such as steering, anchoring, cargo handling, heating, ventilation, air conditioning interior and exterior communication, and other related requirements. Electrical power generation and electrical power distribution systems are typically designed by their suppliers; the only design responsibility of the marine engineering is installation.
Furthermore, an understanding of mechanical engineering topics such as fluid dynamics, fluid mechanics, linear wave theory, strength of materials, structural mechanics, and structural dynamics is essential to a marine engineer's repertoire of skills. These and other mechanical engineering subjects serve as an integral component of the marine engineering curriculum.

Civil Engineering

Civil engineering concepts play in an important role in many marine engineering projects such as the design and construction of ocean structures, ocean bridges and tunnels, and port/harbor design.

Coastal engineering

Electronics and Robotics

Marine engineering often deals in the fields of electrical engineering and robotics, especially in applications related to employing deep-sea cables and UUVs.

Deep-sea cables

A series of transoceanic fiber optic cables are responsible for connecting much of the world's communication via the internet, carrying as much as 99 percent of total global internet and signal traffic. These cables must be engineered to withstand deep-sea environments that are remote and often unforgiving, with extreme pressures and temperatures as well as potential interference by fishing, trawling, and sea life.

UUV autonomy and networks

The use of unmanned underwater vehicles stands to benefit from the use of autonomous algorithms and networking. Marine engineers aim to learn how advancements in autonomy and networking can be used to enhance existing UUV technologies and facilitate the development of more capable underwater vehicles.

Petroleum Engineering

A knowledge of marine engineering proves useful in the field of petroleum engineering, as hydrodynamics and seabed integration serve as key elements in the design and maintenance of offshore oil platforms.

Marine construction

Marine construction is the process of building structures in or adjacent to large bodies of water, usually the sea. These structures can be built for a variety of purposes, including transportation, energy production, and recreation. Marine construction can involve the use of a variety of building materials, predominantly steel and concrete. Some examples of marine structures include ships, offshore platforms, moorings, pipelines, cables, wharves, bridges, tunnels, breakwaters and docks.

Challenges specific to marine engineering

Hydrodynamic loading

In the same way that civil engineers design to accommodate wind loads on building and bridges, marine engineers design to accommodate a ship or submarine struck by waves millions of times over the course of the vessel's life. These load conditions are also found in marine construction and coastal engineering

Stability

Any seagoing vessel has the constant need for hydrostatic stability. A naval architect, like an airplane designer, is concerned with stability. What makes the naval architect's job unique is that a ship operates in two fluids simultaneously: water and air. Even after a ship has been designed and put to sea, marine engineers face the challenge of balancing cargo, as stacking containers vertically increases the mass of the ship and shifts the center of gravity higher. The weight of fuel also presents a problem, as the pitch of the ship may cause the liquid to shift, resulting in an imbalance. In some vessels, this offset will be counteracted by storing water inside larger ballast tanks. Marine engineers are responsible for the task of balancing and tracking the fuel and ballast water of a ship. Floating offshore structures have similar constraints.

Corrosion

The saltwater environment faced by seagoing vessels makes them highly susceptible to corrosion. In every project, marine engineers are concerned with surface protection and preventing galvanic corrosion. Corrosion can be inhibited through cathodic protection by introducing pieces of metal to serve as a "sacrificial anode" in the corrosion reaction. This causes the metal to corrode instead of the ship's hull. Another way to prevent corrosion is by sending a controlled amount of low DC current through the ship's hull, thereby changing the hull's electrical charge and delaying the onset of electro-chemical corrosion. Similar problems are encountered in coastal and offshore structures.