Marine Engineering and Propulsion
Marine engineering portal: two-stroke and four-stroke diesels, dual-fuel engines, turbines, electric propulsion, shafting, auxiliaries, boilers and automation.
This portal covers the machinery that moves and powers a ship: slow-speed two-stroke and medium-speed four-stroke diesel engines, dual-fuel and gas engines, steam and gas turbines, electric propulsion, shafting and propellers, auxiliaries, boilers, refrigeration and engine-room automation, with the engine makers and their model histories.
The governing rules are SOLAS Chapter II-1 for machinery and electrical installations, the IACS Unified Requirements in the M and E series, MARPOL Annex VI with the NOx Technical Code 2008 for engine emission certification, and ISO 8217 for fuel quality. Engine practice comes from the makers’ project guides, chiefly MAN Energy Solutions, WinGD and Wärtsilä.
Exhaust emission limits, fuel life-cycle accounting and carbon rules belong to Decarbonization, Emissions and Alternative Fuels; hull form and propulsion prediction belong to Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding.
Start here
- Heavy fuel oil: residual marine fuel grades and handling
Residual marine fuel under ISO 8217:2024: the new RM grade tables, CCAI and sediment limits, cat fines, the sulphur regime, and why HSFO demand recovered.
- Marine gas oil (MGO): ISO 8217 distillate grades
Marine gas oil (MGO) is the ISO 8217 distillate bunker fuel, grades DMX, DMA, DMZ and DMB, burned without preheating to meet the 0.10% sulphur ECA limit.
- LNG fuel system: onboard storage to gas supply
An onboard LNG fuel system stores liquefied natural gas at minus 162 C, manages boil-off gas, and supplies dual-fuel engines under the IGF Code, MSC.391(95).
- Integrated Automation and Condition Monitoring
Shipboard integrated automation, UR E22 categories, the 2025 alarm code, power management, blackout recovery, and class planned and condition-based maintenance.
- Marine Engine Performance Monitoring
Marine engine performance monitoring trends cylinder pressure, exhaust temperature, turbocharger and SFOC data against baselines for maintenance and fuel use.
- Marine Steering Gear: Types, SOLAS Rules, Tests, Faults
How ship steering gear works: vane and ram actuators, power units, SOLAS II-1/29 and 30 rules, tanker redundancy, emergency steering, drills and class survey.
- Bow thruster and stern thruster
Bow and stern thrusters give a ship lateral force at low speed. Covers tunnel and azimuth types, sizing, speed limits, drive systems, DP use and IMO rules.
- Marine Oily Water Separators and Bilge Treatment
How a marine oily water separator works: bilge collection, separation stages, the 15 ppm alarm, sludge handling, Oil Record Book Part I and magic-pipe cases.
- Marine HVAC Systems: Ship Air Conditioning and Ventilation
How ships heat, ventilate and air condition accommodation, machinery spaces, cargo holds and galleys, and how MLC 2006 and the HFC phase-down shape the design.
All articles in this portal
175 articles, plus 139 in preparation.
- A-Frame and Column Design in Two-Stroke Engines
- ABC DZC Engine: Medium-Speed Marine Diesel
- Akasaka Diesels: Japanese Coastal Marine Engines
- Ammonia Marine Engines: Technology and Outlook
- Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC) Marine Engines
- Anti-Heeling Systems: Ship Heeling Control
- Atlas-Polar Marine Engines
- Bergen B33:45 Medium-Speed Four-Stroke Engine
- Beta Marine Engines: UK Mariniser Profile
- Bolinder Hot-Bulb Marine Engines
- Bolinder-Munktell: Swedish Engine Maker
- Bow thruster and stern thruster
- Bunker Quality and ISO 8217 Marine Fuel Standards
- Burmeister and Wain: History of a Marine Diesel Pioneer
- Caterpillar 3500 Series: High-Speed Marine Engine
- Caterpillar C280: Medium-Speed Marine Engine
- Caterpillar Marine: Corporate History
- Common Rail Fuel Injection: Two-Stroke Engines
- Cooper-Bessemer Marine Diesel and Gas Engines
- Cross Scavenging in Legacy Two-Stroke Designs
- Crosshead Diesel Engine: Architecture Overview
- Crossley Brothers: Manchester Marine Engines
- CSSC Marine Engine Subsidiaries: Group Structure
- Cummins Marine: Corporate History
- Cummins QSK Series: High-Speed Marine Engine
- Cylinder Bore and Stroke Selection for Marine Engines
- Cylinder Compression Pressure (Pcomp) Analysis
- Cylinder Cover Design and Cooling: Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- Cylinder Liner Design: Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- Cylinder Liner Wear Monitoring: Methods and Limits
- Cylinder Lubrication Systems: Two-Stroke Engines
- Cylinder Oil Base Number and Fuel Sulphur
- Cylinder Oil Feed Rate Optimisation
- Cylinder Peak Pressure (Pmax) on Marine Engines
- Daihatsu Diesel (Infinearth) Marine Engines
- Detroit Diesel 71 and 92 Series Marine Engines
- Deutz Marine Engines: From Otto to TCD
- Doxford Opposed-Piston Marine Oil Engines
- EGR Retrofit on Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- EMD Marine Engines: 567, 645, and 710 Series
- Engine Alignment and Bedplate Flexure
- Engine Bedplate Construction: Two-Stroke Marine Diesels
- Engine Derating for Slow Steaming
- Engine Emergency Stop Circuits: Shutdown and Slowdown
- Engine Governor Systems: Types, Droop, and Load Sharing
- Engine Load Diagram: Layout, Limits, and Propeller Curves
- Engine Performance Monitoring: PMI Systems
- Engine Power and BMEP: Core Relationships
- Engine Reversing System: Direct-Drive Marine Engines
- Engine Room Automation: UMS and E0 Systems
- Engine Room Environmental Management
- Engine Sea Trial Procedures: New-Build Ships
- Engine Telegraph and Bridge Remote Control Systems
- Engine Torsional Vibration Analysis: Marine Shafting
- English Electric: British Marine and Locomotive Diesels
- Exhaust Valve Actuation in Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- Fairbanks Morse Marine Engines: OP Diesel and Naval Power
- Four-Stroke Marine Diesel Engine Fundamentals
- Fuel Switching Operations: MARPOL Annex VI
- Fuel Valve Design for Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- Gotaverken: Swedish Marine Diesel Engines
- Grandi Motori Trieste: Italian Marine Engine History
- Hanshin Diesel Marine Engines
- Hanwha Engine: HSD and Doosan Engine History
- Harland & Wolff Marine Diesel Engines
- Heavy fuel oil: residual marine fuel grades and handling
- Hesselman Engine: History, Principle, and Marine Use
- HHI Engine & Machinery Division (HHI-EMD)
- High-Speed Four-Stroke Marine Engines
- HiMSEN: Hyundai Medium-Speed Marine Engines
- Hornsby-Akroyd Hot-Bulb Oil Engine: History
- Indicator Diagram Analysis: Marine Diesel Engines
- Integrated Automation and Condition Monitoring
- ISO 8217:2024 Marine Fuel Specification
- Japan Engine Corporation (J-ENG): Company Overview
- John G. Kincaid: Greenock Marine Engine Builder
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries Marine Engines
- Krupp Marine Engines: Germania Diesels to ThyssenKrupp
- Lister-Petter Marine Engines
- LNG fuel system: onboard storage to gas supply
- Loop vs Uniflow Scavenging in Marine Two-Strokes
- MaK Maschinenbau Kiel: Marine Engine History
- MAN 32/40: Medium-Speed Marine Engine Guide
- MAN 48/60: Large-Bore Medium-Speed Marine Engine
- MAN Alpha Lubricator: Electronic Cylinder Lubrication
- MAN B&W ME-C Electronic Control System
- MAN Energy Solutions: Corporate History
- MAN L21/31: Medium-Speed Marine GenSet Engine
- MAN L32/44CR: Medium-Speed Four-Stroke Marine Engine
- Marine Auxiliary Engines and Generators
- Marine Bilge and Ballast Systems
- Marine Boilers and Steam Systems
- Marine Cathodic Protection and Hull Coatings
- Marine Compressed Air Systems Explained
- Marine diesel engine
- Marine Domestic Water Systems: Potable and Sanitary
- Marine Electrical Generation and Distribution
- Marine Engine Camshaft and Valve Train
- Marine Engine Combustion Analysis
- Marine Engine Common Rail Technology
- Marine Engine Crankshaft and Main Bearings
- Marine Engine Cylinder Liners and Pistons
- Marine Engine Fuel Injection Systems
- Marine Engine Makers: builders and licensors
- Marine Engine Model Decoder (Naming Conventions, All Major Makers)
- Marine Engine Performance Monitoring
- Marine Engine Room Ventilation and Uptakes
- Marine Engine Starting Air System Guide
- Marine Engine Turbocharging: Principles and Practice
- Marine Fire Detection and Fixed Fire-Fighting Systems
- Marine Fresh Water Generator: How Ships Make Fresh Water
- Marine Fuel and Lube Oil Purifiers
- Marine Fuel Oil Systems
- Marine gas oil (MGO): ISO 8217 distillate grades
- Marine gas turbine
- Marine Gas Turbines: Propulsion Technology Guide
- Marine HVAC Systems: Ship Air Conditioning and Ventilation
- Marine Hydraulic Systems: Shipboard Hydraulics Guide
- Marine Lubricating Oil Systems: System Oil Guide
- Marine Oily Water Separators and Bilge Treatment
- Marine Pressure Vessel Inspection and Survey
- Marine Propeller Pitch and Construction
- Marine Propulsion Shafting and Stern Tube
- Marine Reduction Gears: Design and Operation
- Marine Refrigeration and Cargo Cooling
- Marine Sea Water Cooling Systems
- Marine Sewage and Grey Water Treatment Systems
- Marine Steam Turbines: Principles, History, and Use
- Marine Steering Gear: Types, SOLAS Rules, Tests, Faults
- Medium-Speed Four-Stroke Marine Engines
- Methanol Marine Engines: Combustion, Types, and Fleet
- Mirrlees Blackstone Marine Engines
- Mitsubishi UE and UEC Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- Mitsui E&S DU: Japan's Oldest MAN B&W Licensee
- Moteurs Baudouin (Weichai) Marine Engines
- MTU Series 2000 Marine Engine
- MTU Series 4000 Marine Engine: Full Guide
- MWM Motoren-Werke Mannheim: Engine History
- Naval Nuclear Propulsion: Reactors, Fleets, and Applications
- Niigata Power Systems Marine Engines
- NOHAB and Polar Marine Diesel Engines
- Paxman Marine Engines
- Petter Engines: Petters Ltd of Yeovil
- Pilot Injection in Dual-Fuel Marine Engines
- Piston Crown Cooling in Slow-Speed Marine Engines
- Piston Ring Pack Design: Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- Piston Rod Stuffing Box: Function and Overhaul
- Pulse Lubrication Systems for Marine Engines
- Rolls-Royce Power Systems and MTU Corporate History
- Ruston Marine and Industrial Engines
- Scavenge Port Geometry and Timing in Two-Stroke Engines
- SCR Retrofit on Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- SEMT-Pielstick Marine Diesel Engines
- Sewage Holding Tank Sizing for Ships
- SFOC Curves: Load, Tuning, and Correction
- Ship Cargo Gear: Cranes, Derricks and Lifting Appliances
- Slow Steaming and Engine Cleanliness
- Specific fuel oil consumption (SFOC)
- Stork-Werkspoor Diesel: Dutch Marine Engines
- Sulzer Marine Diesel Engines: History 1898 to WinGD
- Tier III Two-Stroke Engines: NOx Compliance Guide
- Trunk Piston Engine Architecture Explained
- Two-Stroke Engine Future Developments
- Two-Stroke Marine Diesel Engine Fundamentals
- Uniflow Scavenging in Two-Stroke Marine Engines
- Volvo Penta Marine Engines and the IPS Pod Drive
- Wartsila 20: Medium-Speed Marine Engine Guide
- Wartsila 31: World-Record Medium-Speed Marine Engine
- Wartsila 32: Medium-Speed Four-Stroke Marine Engine
- Wartsila 46F: Medium-Speed Four-Stroke Marine Engine
- Wartsila 50DF: Dual-Fuel Medium-Speed Marine Engine
- Wartsila Corporate History
- WinGD (Winterthur Gas & Diesel): Corporate History
- WinGD X-DF Engine: Low-Pressure Dual-Fuel Architecture
- Yanmar Marine Diesel Engines