In maritime transportation, the engine department or engineering department is an organizational unit aboard a ship that is responsible for the operating, maintaining and repairing the propulsion systems and the support systems for crew, passengers and cargo. It is also responsible for repairing and maintaining other systems on ship such as:
- Electrical Power Generation Plant
- Lighting
- Fuel oil
- Lubrication
- Water distillation
- separation
- Air conditioning
- Refrigeration
The Engine Department emerged with the arrival of marine engines for propulsion, largely during the latter half of the 19th century. Due to the advancement in Marine Technology during the twentieth century, the engineering department is considered in merchant navy as equally important as the Deck department, since trained engineers are required to handle the machinery on a ship.
Nowadays due to the increase in Automation on Merchant Vessels and increase in the Unattended Machinery Spaces (UMS) class vessels the number of seafaring engineers have decreased drastically on board a Merchant Ship. Today the Engine department usually consists of the following number of Engineers and crew:
- (1) Chief Engineer
- (1) Second Engineer
- (1) Third Engineer
- (1-2) Fourth Engineer
- (2-4) Junior Engineer
- (0-1) Engine Cadet
- (0-2) Oiler
- (0-1) Wiper
- (0-1) Fitter
- (0-1) Motorman
- (0-1) Machinist
Famous quotes containing the words engine and/or department:
“There is a small steam engine in his brain which not only sets the cerebral mass in motion, but keeps the owner in hot water.”
—Unknown. New York Weekly Mirror (July 5, 1845)
“We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.”
—Tennessee Williams (1914–1983)