What Do Marine Architects Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Marine Architects design and oversee construction and repair of marine craft and floating structures such as ships, barges, tugs, dredges, submarines, torpedoes, floats, and buoys. May confer with marine engineers. They also conduct stability analyses of ships.

Other tasks include:

• Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy.
• Study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft.
• Oversee construction and testing of prototype in model basin and develop sectional and waterline curves of hull to establish center of gravity, ideal hull form, and buoyancy and stability data.
• Evaluate performance of craft during dock and sea trials to determine design changes and conformance with national and international standards.
• Design layout of craft interior, including cargo space, passenger compartments, ladder wells, and elevators.
• Confer with marine engineering personnel to establish arrangement of boiler room equipment and propulsion machinery, heating and ventilating systems, refrigeration equipment, piping, and other functional equipment.

We asked Marine Architects how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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75% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 53% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Marine Architects study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft. They confer with marine engineering personnel to establish arrangement of boiler room equipment and propulsion machinery, heating and ventilating systems, refrigeration equipment, piping, and other functional equipment.

• Conduct stability analyses of ships.
• Oversee construction and testing of prototype in model basin and develop sectional and waterline curves of hull to establish center of gravity, ideal hull form, and buoyancy and stability data.
• Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy.
• Design layout of craft interior, including cargo space, passenger compartments, ladder wells, and elevators.
• Evaluate performance of craft during dock and sea trials to determine design changes and conformance with national and international standards.

We asked some Marine Architects a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	77% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	68% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	82% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	24% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	0% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	36% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Marine Architects also conduct stability analyses of ships. They may also study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Marine Architects Design layout of craft interior, including cargo space, passenger compartments, ladder wells, and elevators. They might also Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy.

In addition, they Confer with marine engineering personnel to establish arrangement of boiler room equipment and propulsion machinery, heating and ventilating systems, refrigeration equipment, piping, and other functional equipment.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Evaluate performance of craft during dock and sea trials to determine design changes and conformance with national and international standards.

To some Marine Architects, it is also their responsibility to Oversee construction and testing of prototype in model basin and develop sectional and waterline curves of hull to establish center of gravity, ideal hull form, and buoyancy and stability data.

Working life

Standard 40 hour work week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Marine Architect, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/architecture-and-engineering/marine-engineers-and-naval-architects.htm

http://mebaunion.org/MEBA/

https://www.navalengineers.org/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.asee.org/