Sailing Towards Success: A Guide to Becoming a Chief Engineer in the Merchant Navy
A ship’s engine department is overseen by a chief engineer in the merchant navy. Starting out as a Junior or Fifth Engineer is the first step on the path to becoming a Chief Engineer in the Merchant Navy. As your career develops, you advance to the rank of the fourth engineer, then the third engineer. You then advance to the position of Second Engineer before ultimately being promoted to Chief Engineer.
Table of Contents
In brief, your career path will look something like this:
In this blog, we will take you through the complete process of becoming a chief engineer in the merchant navy, step-by-step.
Steps to Become a Chief Engineer in the Merchant Navy
1. Complete your pre-sea training course and become a trainee marine engineer
Studying mechanical engineering is the initial requirement for becoming a junior/trainee marine engineer.
You must pass class 12 with PCM (60% or above) to pursue a pre-sea training course and join merchant navy as a Marine Engineer. For this, you can opt for a B.Tech in Marine Engineering or B.E. Mechanical Engineering and Graduate Marine Engineering. Students who hold a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering may also apply for lateral entry in marine engineering.
BTech in Marine Engineering is a 4-year degree course that you pursue right after you complete your 12th. The option for Graduate Marine Engineering (GME), a one-year post-graduate program, is for those who have completed their prior studies in mechanical engineering.
After you complete your pre-sea training in any of the above courses, you will be qualified to work on a vessel as a trainee marine engineer.
2. Complete 6 months of sea time and appear for advanced courses
After joining the ship as a Trainee Marine Engineer, you have to complete 6 months of sea-time (which accounts for 183 days of sailing/on-board training).
After completing this required sea time, you will become eligible to appear for MEO Class IV exams and advanced courses like ERS (Engine room stimulator), High Voltage, and Advanced STCW.
3. Submit the required documents and get promoted to 4th engineer
After completing the relevant courses, you are required to collect your sea service letter as well as the TAR book, which is duly signed by the captain of the ship.
Next, you will need to visit the nearest MMD and apply for the assessment of exams. There, you will also be required to submit EXN 45, which is an officer’s record book that mentions details of exams that you have appeared for. The MMDs are situated in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Cochin.
This will make you eligible to get promoted as the 4th engineer.
4. Get promoted to 3rd engineer
After completing 12 months of sailing as a 4th engineer, you can start your journey to prepare for the 3rd engineer exams. These exams consist of 6 written and 4 oral exams.
- Written Exams: General, Motor, MEP ( Marine Engineering Practice), MET (Marine Electronics Technology), SSEP (Ship Safety Environment Protection) & Naval Architecture
- Oral Exams: Function 3 (SSEP), Function 4A (Steam Engines) {Optional}, Function 4B Motor, Function 5 MEP & Function 6 MET. Function 4A (Steam Engines) is an optional exam. Only for candidates who will work on steam engines.
After preparing for these exams, you can book them on the e-pariksha portal of DG Shipping. The fee for the exam is INR 1000. Next, you will have to collect the EXN 45 from your MMD. finally, you will be required to collect your Certificate of Competency (COC), which will make you eligible to get promoted to the 3rd engineer.
5. Complete the required exams and get promoted to 2nd engineer
After collecting your COC and sailing for 12 months as a 3rd engineer, you will be eligible to appear for examinations that will get you promoted to 2nd engineer. The process will be the same-
- Collect your duly-signed sea service letter and the TAR book
- Visit MMD, apply for the assessment of exams, and submit EXN 45. The exams will have the same 6 written and oral exams as mentioned above.
- Book your exams on e-pariksha. The fee will be INR 3000
- Collect the EXN 45 from your MMD
- Receive 2nd engineer COC
- Get promoted to 2nd engineer
6. Sail for 18 months and prepare for chief engineer exams
After getting promoted to 2nd engineer, you will be required to complete at least 18 months of sailing period to begin the process of being promoted to chief engineer.
- Collect your duly-signed sea service letter and the TAR book
- Visit MMD, apply for the assessment of exams, and submit EXN 45. The exams will have the same 6 written and oral exams as mentioned above.
- Book your exams on e-pariksha. The fee will be INR 5000
Completing this process will make you eligible to finally get promoted to the rank of Chief Engineer!
7. Bonus
After sailing for 24 months as a chief engineer, you can also apply for Extra Class One, which consists of 1 written and 1 oral exam.
Clearing this exam will make you eligible to
Important Notes:
- All subjects are common for Class III & Class II
- All Documents must be valid at the time of oral exams
Brief Duties of a Chief Engineer
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