3rd eng
In this section of the website, we will be talking about deep ocean engineering. Now the very mention of term deep ocean engineering might sound a bit awkward since you would not expect anyone to go deep into the ocean and perform an engineering feat over there. Well actually the term does not exactly mean that sort of an activity but still it closely resembles this description. What is Deep Ocean Engineering? Let us check out the definition of ocean engineers as underlined by the very body which represents such professionals, namely the Society for Naval Architects and Marine Engineers or SNAME.
Their definition states that ocean engineers could encompass those professionals who either study the effects of ocean environment of various kinds of structures including fixed structures as well as floating marine vessels such as ships; or this definition could also include people involved in the design and construction of such fixed or floating structures and other vessels used for remote deep sea surveillance. If you want to know in a more plain language, any one who in involved in the construction or development of sea structures and study of ocean environment with regards to its effect on engineering structures would fall under the definition of an ocean engineer. So you can make out that this definition would also include parts of the job profile related to naval architects, marine engineers and so forth.
What is Offshore Engineering? If you are not totally confused as yet, let me add to your confusion. Have you ever heard about offshore engineering? Actually this is another loosely defined term which is closely associated and/or used in place of ocean engineering in certain cases. Offshore engineering is also defined similarly as a mixture of marine, civil and mechanical engineering disciplines wherein these people deal with design, analysis and construction of structures in marine environment, so quite similar to ocean engineering. Whatever may be the ambiguity in definition of deep ocean engineering or offshore engineering; the offshore and ocean engineers play an important role in the marine engineering industry.
We will learn about various aspects of ocean engineering and offshore engineering such as various job profiles of these personnel, the tasks they have to carry out and education related to these areas. There are also certain more terms such as sub-sea engineering but I think that much should be sufficient for the day. We might talk about it later during our detailed study of the above mentioned concepts of deep ocean engineering and offshore engineering. But you certain have an idea by now what all these related terms stand for in a generic sense.
The image below shows a scenario where a pipeline for oil transportation is being laid on the ocean floor. This will give you a visual idea about the types of works involved within the definition of deep ocean engineering, offshore engineering or sub-sea engineering.
