Engineers operate, maintain, and repair the engines, boilers, generators, and other machinery on the ship. Assistant engineers oversee the operation of engines and machinery on their watch. Ship Officers and Engineers is a specialty of Water Transportation Workers. For more information, see the Water Transportation Workers occupation. Ship Officers and Engineers is in the Transportation Career Cluster.
Wages vary according to training, experience and location.
Entry level wages may be lower. Engineers earn slightly less. There were 220 people employed as ship captains in Indiana in 1996. It is estimated that between 1996 and 2006, about 13 jobs per year for captains and 7 jobs per year for pilots will need to be filled. These numbers include new jobs and jobs resulting from the replacement of current workers.