Second engineer

Pay in the destination countries

Monthly, in US dollars. Each country is an Imora admission package — open one for that route's fees, language requirement and deadline.

What does the day look like?

Your day centres on executing planned maintenance routines (PMA) on the main propulsion diesel or dual-fuel engine, including pulling pistons, cylinder head overhauls, fuel injector testing, and crankshaft deflection checks. You direct the morning engine-room work distribution for junior engineers (Third and Fourth Engineers), motormen, and cadets. You oversee bunkering, fuel purifiers, and test emergency fire pumps and emergency diesel generators (EDG). Work hours, spare parts inventories, and equipment run logs are tracked using PMS software such as AMOS, DNV GL ShipManager, Marasoft (Marad), BASSnet, or Kongsberg K-Chief 600.

Real operations differ from the perceived split of advanced console monitoring. In reality, 45% of your time is spent on administrative and compliance overhead (PMS updates, work permits, safety risk assessments, and PSC inspection readiness), 35% on routine preventive maintenance and dirty purifier overhauls, and only 20% on troubleshooting and watchkeeping. Under Unattended Machinery Space (UMS) conditions, daytime hours run from 08:00 to 17:00, with a 24-hour duty rotation every 3 to 4 days requiring you to answer cabin engine alarms within 3 minutes. In conventional operations, you stand 4-on/8-off watches (typically 04:00–08:00 and 16:00–20:00). Contracts typically run 3 to 4 months onboard followed by 3 to 4 months of unpaid leave.

Where does this lead?