Session on Marine Engineer – Career Path

Training and Placement Cell and Department of Science & Humanities of Don Bosco College of Engineering organized a session on Marine Engineer: Career Path on December 14, 2021, from 4 pm to 5 pm at the DBCE campus for First Year Mechanical Engineering Students. The main purpose of the event was to create awareness among students of the opportunities in Marine Engineering. The resource person for the session was Captain Norbert Rebello was introduced to the audience by Mr. Rio D’Mello. Captain Rebello began by reminding us that Marine Engineering is not an easy job and is not as glamorous as they show on social media. He added that at times they must work in engine rooms with temperatures as high as 45°C and the working hours range from 10 to 12 hours a day. They often had to stay away from home and had to work even through sickness. Apart from all these hardships, there was indeed good pay, but he added that job satisfaction holds priority over salary. He advised the students who were interested in joining the marine industry to take up placements on campus. Talking from experience he explained that it took him 3 years of applying to every accessible company to finally land a job.

He, then, moved on to the Q&A session. Of the many questions asked, some were, “What work do you have to do as a marine engineer?” He answered saying marine engineers must work with everything from machinery, sewage plant, main engine, cleaning tanks and so on. Another question asked by a student was, “What is the one thing you would like to change in the shipping industry?” And he replied saying that he would like to see a change in the attitude of the people working in the shipping industry towards each other. He mentioned some of the institutions for Marine Engineering like IMS Goa and JESCO. He said that the best of companies are the ones which care for you and your well-being. Sharing one of his fond memories of his entire shipping career, he shared that “Once at the end of 1999, while I was working on the ship ‘Erika’, which was paying a very high salary it, unfortunately, sank and the entire crew was stranded in Yugoslavia for a year without any money for food and clothes. This episode taught me a great many things, the greatest lesson of which was how to survive when one has nothing.” He said that this was his fondest memory as he learnt a lot from it like how to survive when you have nothing. He concluded by saying “Don’t study to pass exams, study to gain knowledge”. This informative event ended with the vote of thanks proposed by Mr. Aaron Rodrigues. Dr. Neena Panandikar expressed gratitude to Event Coordinators – Dr Kala Nayak, HOD, Science & Humanities and Avila Naik, Training and Placement Officer for taking the initiative to organize this session. She thanked the speaker Captain Norbert Rebello for a wonderful and interactive session.