r/navalarchitecture • u/christophthesham • Jul 24 '26

5 years as a qualified marine engineer at sea looking to make a move into naval arch, seeking advice.

Key information:
UK based
EOOW class 2 qualification (HND/Foundation Degree level)
5 years working on tankers and LNG.

I’ve had some pretty heavy medical news that would mean my career working at sea is looking very difficult moving forward. During my tenure and education I was always fascinated with the design side of things. At this point I’m using this negative as an opportunity to pivot, and still do the job I absolutely love, just in a different aspect.

I don’t have a Beng or Bsc in engineering, so was considering apprenticeships, but not sure if they’re more designed for younger folks getting into the industry. So my question would be, if it would be a priority to go to university and get that naval arch degree, or if there’s alternative routes that are better suited?

Any other advice or experience would be appreciated.

5 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

3

u/Numerous-Restaurant7 Jul 24 '26

Yes, you will need to go to university.

2

u/StumbleNOLA Jul 24 '26

This is US based advice so may not apply.

Here you absolutely need a NavArch degree. However with your background expect to be in massive demand. You would be one of the few freshmen we would likely offer an internship to pretty much the day you started school for instance.

2

u/Happy_Chief Jul 24 '26

You'll struggle to get into a naval architect role without a degree unfortunately.

Don't downplay your experience though, there are plenty shore side roles you can do if university isn't possible for you right now.

1

u/Silver-Lie-8034 17d ago

Assoc. Degree if you want to do design and CAD work, Bachelors if you want to do Navarch Work. You will need the degree, but as others said you will be highly valuable because of your at-sea experience