You get acclimatised to the heat . The problem is joining a ship in a very hot region when arriving from a cold or temperate region.On the positive side the engine control rooms usually have some form of climate control
Whatever you decide life itself does not come with air conditioning .
Are there designated break times when you’re only allowed to step out during those times, or can you step out whenever you need?
Is getting an engine job on the West Coast more competitive than in the Gulf?
Your physical comfort seems to be important to you so I would avoid any maritime career. Get some technical training and work in maintenance at Walmart or become a building super. There are plenty of folks willing to sweat to earn an above average income and you likely will not be able to compete with them.
Depends on where you apply and what companies. I worked for one of the larger tanker companies and became a permanent on the ship I was assigned too. I did fill in on some west coast tankers here and there.
As for break times, we were union and had the 1000 and 1500 coffee breaks. That said being as 1st engineer, during the summer months, I made sure to be aware of how the guys were doing. If I saw anyone start to struggle, I’d have them go cool off and get some water. That was part of my summer month engine room culture, take breaks as needed, cool off, but don’t take advantage of it. I had a great group of junior officers and unlicensed.
First off- if you are engaged in activity that is interesting a hot engine room shouldn’t be a hindrance. Even working in the Persian Gulf was manageable with tasks that were interesting.
If the 1AE is not allowing adequate time for breaks and water rests, well that’s a problem, but universally this isn’t the situation anymore really and it wouldn’t take long for a bad actor reputation to catch up.
Thirdly keeping the sweat glands open is a very healthy endeavor and this flushes out toxins like nothing else can, sleeping is usually easy as living spaces are air conditioned.
Finally if this is really a hindrance take a job in a more temperate region, plenty of work in the northern waters, (don’t say I didn’t warn you about rough seas).
Working in engine rooms, YES the temperatures can be HOT. When working on a generator or other equipment even hotter due to the equipment’s heat. Work on northern latitudes the temperatures are cooler but the seas are rougher. Merchant mariner WORK for a living and we tolerate less than ideal condition(s) as part of the job. The merchant marine might not be a career choice for everyone, But it is a great career choice for those that choose it, adapt to it, and choose to apply themselves.
I do indeed wonder if the OP is actually suited to a work environment at all let alone on a ship
And don’t forget that the food can be shit.
Not that I would recommend MSC, but the T-AOE I was on had an air-conditioned engine room. GTs and SSDGs were each in ventilated insulated enclosures, and massive chillers fed coils in the space fan coils…burning that that gov’t fuel. If the Chief didn’t suck so bad it wouldn’t have been a bad gig.
Cable ship up the Piscataqua in NH in winter you had to keep the pipes from freezing.
Summer in the GOM most of the oil companies mandate certain amount of hydration breaks based on heat index, scheduled into the task risk assessments. Guys on deck frequently wear camelbacks. Nothing like working in a hot sump on a hot day with sweat filling your latex gloves and pooling in your earmuffs! You don’t realize how much you were sweating in your coveralls until you notice you are floating in your boots!
I did work on a rig for Chevron once that installed a chiller on deck just to have some cold air hoses to blow on guys to cool down though.
Of course nothing is hotter than cruising through the latitudes approaching 0. The equator heat sucks. But is working in a hot engine room worth it? Yeah. I’m starting to think I’d rather be back to being a dumb 3rd Engineer sweating on an engine job than sitting in my cold office right now.
you know the best 3rd a/e a chief engineer could ever hope for is a career 3rd a/e.
Disagree. 3A/E is a pretty dang low rung to hang onto. If you would have said 2A/E I would have agreed. From my experiences, senior citizen lifetime 3A/E are ones who always second guesses everyone above him because he has so much “experience” & knows better. A middle-aged lifer 3rd is usually an out of shape dude who knows how to use the union & rule book to get out of much work as possible.
Simplex Wire and Cable?
That’s the one, although I think it was under the Tyco name at the time (or maybe just called that). Was on the USNS Zeus though, not one of their ships.
The Pump room of a steam tanker in the Persian Gulf in July was a pretty unfriendly place as I remember.
The alley between the economizers was an air fryer! Stopping for more than a few seconds meant first degree burns of exposed skin.
During my training in the navy we had to complete time in the engine and boiler rooms and to show competence in operating specific equipment. I had to start a diesel alternator after completing all checks then put it on the board. There have been many years since but I remember the three lamps showing the phases. It was not automatic. Some of my time was in open and closed stokehold boiler rooms and I remember that hot extremely dry heat around the economisers and the super heat parts of the boiler room. We always blew soot at the end of the watch because after it you were unfit for anything else, and we were young and very fit.
It was never intended that we would ever spend any further time in the machinery spaces but we had to know as an officer of the watch the precise capabilities of the propulsion machinery at all times.
Probably the most miserable heat I recall was in the engine rooms of a diesel electric submarine in the Caribbean after securing the engines from snorkeling. All the ventilation stopped and the engines were well and truly heatsoaked from high loading.
At least on a steamboat in the PG, unless there was a need to linger in the upper levels there was always a ventilator not too far away. Of course, when those RRF breakout boats inevitably lost the plant it got above Caribbean snorkel temps in a hurry.
Don’t miss it at all but glad to have experienced it.
Of all the interesting, unbearable heat stories told on this thread this one seems the worst to me. In all the others a mariner could run out of the engine room spaces to jump under a cold shower or overboard if they had a panic attack but NOT this one. How did the US Navy train sailors for this? Place in a giant oven & locked the doors? I’m not claustrophobic & always thought I would have done okay on subs but the idea of being cooked with no source of relief causes me to have doubts.
