Marine engineering is a branch of Engineering that deals with nautical architecture and science. It is interrelated to Naval Architecture and sometimes may be confusing. Naval architecture is an engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, maintenance, launching and dry-docking and repair of all types of marine vehicles as offshore structures, both commercial and military. Such as merchant ships, oil tankers, cargo ships, cruise ships, ferries, gas tankers, etc.

Naval Architecture has enormous potential. It practically deals with anything that has to work on water, just like civil engineering that has to deal with anything on land. This branch covers the aspects of ship design, ship construction, ship theory, ship maintenance and water-borne vessels and with innovations in marine technology, ship hydrodynamics and ship hydrostatics and ship structure. This field requires managerial qualities, technical skills, complexity in high technology areas and leadership roles.

The principle elements of naval architecture are: Hydrostatics, Hydro dynamics, Structures, Arrangements and Construction. Knowledge about mechanical Engineering, Computer Aided Design (CAD) is essential.

The demand for Naval Architects in public and private shipping companies has risen sharply, with the increase in international global sea traffic. Naval Architects are recognized as one of the highest-paid specialist engineers, with a wide variety of positions and roles. Scope exists in shipyards, shipping companies, research institutions, ship designing institutes, oil rig construction centers, Naval and Oceanography centers, statutory bodies of the Ministry of Transport and Shipping, port trusts, ocean engineering companies and as consultants. Naval architects may also join the technical branch of the Indian Navy. Qualified Naval architects can join the Indian Navy to undergo specialized two-year training in naval ship design at the Naval College of Engineering. Indian Navy recruits a good number of naval architects every year to serve its requirements.

It is a very interesting career for people who aspire to work in the sea. One can pursue further studies in the field of nautical sciences as in postgraduate and PhD programs or choose to pursue higher studies marine engineering, or venture into other inter-related nautical fields.

It is a very lucrative profession with the engineers drawing a starting salary of Rs. 25,000 plus benefits and incentives, while earning more as they progress onto higher responsibilities. The salaries in international shipping companies if much higher making it a hot career choice.