Engine Cadet interview questions

I have always liked understanding how machines work and fixing things with my hands. [Add your own reason: a family member at sea, a project at the academy, workshop practice you enjoyed.]

Marine engineering combines many fields: diesel engines, electrical systems, automation, refrigeration and steam, all in one engine room. On a ship the engineers solve problems themselves, far from shore support, and I find that responsibility attractive.

My plan is to complete my cadetship and training record book properly, pass my certificate as officer in charge of an engineering watch, and grow step by step to Chief Engineer. I know the work is hard and the engine room is hot and noisy, but I want to start at the bottom and learn every system properly.

I will start with the familiarisation and the safety tour, so I know the escape routes, emergency stops, fire-fighting equipment and alarms before anything else.

Then I will learn the systems one by one by tracing the pipelines with the drawings: fuel oil, lube oil, cooling water, compressed air, bilge and steam. I will make my own sketches, because drawing a system is the best way to understand it.

I will follow the engineers during their rounds and ask questions about every reading: what is normal, what the alarm limit is and why. I will work with the ratings and engineers on maintenance and overhauls, and record what I learn in my training record book.

I will also ask the officers to check my record book regularly, so I can repeat anything I have not understood before the end of the contract.

The main hazards are:

• Hot surfaces and steam: risk of burns and fire if oil sprays on them.
• Rotating machinery: risk of entanglement, so guards must stay in place and loose clothing is not allowed.
• Noise: hearing damage, so ear protection is used.
• Electricity: shock, especially near switchboards.
• Fuel and oil leaks: slips and fire.
• Heavy lifting: injuries from falling loads.

To protect myself I wear the correct PPE: coverall, safety shoes, helmet, gloves, ear protection and goggles when needed. I never work on machinery unless it is stopped, isolated and tagged out under the lock-out/tag-out procedure. I keep my work area clean, report every leak, and I do not start a job I have not been trained for.

In a four-stroke engine, one working cycle takes four strokes of the piston, which is two revolutions of the crankshaft: intake, compression, power and exhaust. Air and exhaust gases are controlled by inlet and exhaust valves in the cylinder head. Four-stroke engines are usually medium- or high-speed engines, used as generators and as main engines on smaller ships.

In a two-stroke engine, the cycle is completed in two strokes, which is one revolution. On large marine engines, scavenge air enters through ports at the bottom of the liner and the exhaust leaves through an exhaust valve in the cover (uniflow scavenging). Large two-stroke engines are slow-speed and usually connected directly to the propeller, so they are used as main engines on most large merchant ships.

Large two-stroke engines are usually crosshead engines, with a diaphragm separating the cylinders from the crankcase.

This is a serious fire risk, so I act immediately:

1. Inform the engineer on watch at once, and the engine control room by phone if I am alone.
2. Do not try to repair it myself if I am not authorised, but if it is safe and I have been shown how, I help to stop the flow, for example by closing the right valve under the engineer's instruction.
3. Keep away from the hot surface and keep the fire extinguisher ready.
4. Contain the oil: help clean the spill with absorbent material after the leak is stopped, and put the rags in the oily waste container.

Every person on board has the authority to stop work if they see a danger. As a cadet, I would rather report something that turns out to be small than stay silent about something that becomes a fire.