Layton Bell and Thomas Eggleton

An insight into what it’s like to be a Marine Engineering Cadet at sea

As part of a maritime cadetship with Chiltern Maritime, our cadets are given the invaluable opportunity to undertake a sea time placement across a variety of ship types.

Meet Layton Bell and Thomas Eggleton, Marine Engineering cadets with Chiltern Maritime.

They are both sponsored by MSC Cruises and are currently working onboard MSC Musica.

During their sea placement, they have been working in the engine room, maintaining the vessel’s machinery alongside the onboard Engineers.

Here, we get an insight into what it’s like to be a Marine Engineering Cadet at sea and learn more more about the types of tasks they have been working on to ensure the vessel is ready for sailing around the world.

“The Engine crew we have been working with – including Engineers, a Chief Fitter and an Italian Cadet.”

“In this photo we were in the process of removing the fuel injectors on DG4 and then replacing them with old ones that we had recently maintained by changing the fuel injector nozzles, spindle and spring.”

“This photo was taken just after we had performed boiler safety alarm tests – which all passed the required specifications.”

“We were removing the economiser pump number 4 in this photo, which was consistently leaking, so we changed the impeller, mechanical seal and other small components to fix it.”

“In this photo we were in the process of changing the duplex lube oil filter. This job is performed regularly by the team. A potential pressure indicator determines whether the filter is dirty by comparing the clean filter (standby filter) and the dirty one (running one).”

Are you interested in a career at sea? Explore our full range of immersive cadetships here.