TL;DR: BS Marine Engineering is governed by Joint CHED-MARINA Memorandum Circular No. 01, series of 2019, which sets the programme at 179 credit units - 50 general education, 89 professional, and 40 units credited for onboard training. The professional block includes 432 hours of workshop skills training. There is a licensure process, but PRC does not run it. Republic Act No. 10635 transferred examination, licensing and certification of marine deck and engine officers from the PRC to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), which issues the Certificate of Competency as Officer in Charge of an Engineering Watch (OIC-EW) after not less than 12 months of approved seagoing service, a theoretical examination and a practical assessment. Do not confuse this with the PRC's naval architecture and marine engineering licence, which is a different degree and a different profession.
Marine engineering is the degree where the "is there a board exam" question has the most confusing answer in Philippine higher education. There is an examination. There is a licence. Neither comes from the Professional Regulation Commission, and the PRC does list a board with "marine engineer" in its name that has nothing to do with this degree. Getting that wrong costs years, so this guide starts there.
Who licenses a marine engineer in the Philippines?
MARINA, not PRC. Republic Act No. 10635 established the Maritime Industry Authority as the single maritime administration of the Republic of the Philippines responsible for implementing and enforcing the 1978 STCW Convention as amended. Under that Act, all the powers, duties and functions of the PRC on the examination, licensing and certification system for marine deck and engine officers provided under Republic Act No. 8544, the Philippine Merchant Marine Officers Act of 1998, are exercised by MARINA.
So a BSMarE graduate does not take a PRC board exam. The path runs through MARINA's Seafarer Certification System: a theoretical examination, a practical assessment at an accredited assessment centre, and then a Certificate of Competency.
And the trap. The PRC's list of 46 Professional Regulatory Boards includes Naval Architecture, and the underlying statute, Republic Act No. 4565, is titled the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Law. That board examines candidates in mathematics, theoretical and applied mechanics, naval architecture and marine engineering - and its qualification section requires "the degree of bachelor of science in naval architecture and marine engineering." A BSMarE is not that degree. Naval architects design ships from shore; BSMarE graduates run their machinery at sea. Different degrees, different regulators, different careers.
Which policy prescribes the BSMarE curriculum?
Joint CHED-MARINA Memorandum Circular No. 01, series of 2019 - "Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering Programs." It was issued by virtue of CHED Commission en banc Resolution No. 271-2019 dated 30 April 2019, and its legal basis stacks RA 7722 (the Higher Education Act), RA 10635 and its implementing rules, the STCW Convention as amended, and Executive Order No. 63.
It is a joint circular for a reason. CHED regulates the degree; MARINA regulates the certification the degree exists to produce. The circular defines BSMarE as "a maritime education program that covers the mandatory education and training for Officers in Charge of an Engineering Watch required under Regulation III/1 of the STCW Convention, 1978, as amended."
The circular also requires maritime higher education institutions to establish "a distinct and separate College of Maritime Education," with a department for each maritime programme. If a school runs BSMarE out of a general engineering college, that is worth asking about.
How the 179 units break down
| Component | Units |
|---|---|
| General education courses | 50 |
| Professional courses | 89 |
| Onboard training | 40 |
| Total | 179 |
For comparison, the BSMT programme in the same circular totals 175 units, also with 40 units credited for onboard training. Our BS Marine Transportation guide covers the deck-officer path.
Because the curriculum is tied to STCW competence tables rather than to a generic engineering template, schools have less latitude here than in a CHED-only engineering PSG. The circular says the Commission and the Maritime Administration develop and adopt the minimum curriculum standards, and any enhanced curriculum a school designs needs approval from both bodies before implementation.
The professional courses
The circular's curriculum outline names the professional courses with their equivalent units and lecture-laboratory splits. The main blocks:
Machinery and power plant
- Aux Mach 1 - Auxiliary Machinery 1 (6 units)
- Aux Mach 2 - Auxiliary Machinery 2
- PPD - Power Plant Diesel (5 units)
- PPS - Power Plant Steam (6 units)
- PASGT - Propulsion Ancillary Systems and Gas Turbine (3 units)
Control and automation
- Auto 1 - Basic Control Engineering (4 units)
- Auto 2 - Marine Automation (4 units)
Watchkeeping
- EWK 1 - Engine Room Watchkeeping Principles (3 units)
- EWK 2 - Engine Watchkeeping with Resource Management
Engineering sciences and support
- Thermo - Thermodynamics (4 units)
- Mech - Mechanics and Hydromechanics (3 units)
- E Mat - Engineering Materials
- IChem - Industrial Chemistry and Tribology (3 units)
- NavArch - Naval Architecture for Marine Engineering (2 units)
- Draw - Maritime Drawing and Diagrams (1 unit)
- ICT - Software Applications and Network Systems used in Seagoing Ships (2 units)
Law, environment and management
- Mar Law - Maritime Law (4 units)
- Mar Env - Protection of the Marine Environment (3 units)
- Mgmt 1 - Leadership and Teamwork (3 units)
- Mgmt 2 - Integrated Management Systems (2 units)
Basic Training appears in the outline as a required component carrying no credit unit, delivered in accordance with the circular's own Basic Training section - which requires the school to enter into a memorandum of agreement arrangement for its delivery.
432 hours of workshop skills training
This is the part of BSMarE that has no equivalent in a shore-based engineering degree. STCW Regulation III/1 requires training in mechanical and electrical workshop skills relevant to the duties of an engineer officer, and the joint circular tabulates seven courses that deliver it:
| Workshop skills course | Equivalent units |
|---|---|
| Mach 1 - Hand and Measuring Tools | 2 (1-4) |
| Mach 2 - Machining Tools | 2 (1-4) |
| Mach 3 - Gas and Electric Welding | 2 (1-4) |
| Electro 1 - Basic Electricity | 4 (3-3) |
| Electro 2 - Basic Electronics | 3 (2-3) |
| Electro 3 - Marine Electricity and Electrical Maintenance | listed in Table 1 |
| Maint - Maintenance and Repair | 3 (2-3) |
| Total workshop skills training hours | 432 |
Most of these run at three or four laboratory hours a week over a 16-week semester. You will spend a real part of the degree in a machine shop and an electrical workshop. If that is not appealing, this is the wrong programme.
Onboard training: the requirement that decides your graduation
Two separate rules apply, and students routinely conflate them.
For the degree. The joint circular states that conferment of the BSMarE degree requires completion of academic and other institutional requirements and completion of the required onboard training in accordance with the PSG and the STCW Convention. Onboard training is credited at 40 units. There is no graduating without it.
For the certificate. MARINA's published requirements for OIC-EW certification set the seagoing service at not less than 12 months of combined workshop skills training and approved seagoing service on ships powered by main propulsion machinery of 750 kW or more, serving as engine cadet, apprentice engineer or otherwise as trainee, as part of an approved training programme (the BSMarE programme) that includes onboard training meeting STCW Code section A-III/1 and documented in an approved training record book.
There is an alternative route in the same document for people who did not come through the cadet path: not less than 36 months of approved seagoing service, of which at least 30 months are on 750 kW-or-more ships, serving in ratings positions such as wiper, oiler, motorman, fitter, machinist or GP-motorman.
Either way, MARINA also requires that during the seagoing service the candidate performed engine-room watchkeeping duties under the supervision of the chief engineer or a qualified engineer officer for a period of six months, evidenced by a Daily Journal of Engine-Room Watchkeeping Duties.
The berth problem, and the rules built around it
Onboard training slots are finite, and the joint circular treats that as a regulatory issue rather than a student's problem. It requires maritime higher education institutions to provide onboard training slots to all students who have completed classroom instruction for onboard training, and it sets a minimum deployment percentage the school must hit - rising to not less than 80 per cent of students who completed classroom instruction from academic year 2021-2022 onwards - to be met within a maximum of 18 months from completion of classroom instruction.
Students who choose not to pursue onboard training are excluded from that computation but must execute a notarised affidavit of undertaking explaining why.
And there is a clock. The circular allows all students to complete onboard training and other graduation requirements within six years after completion of classroom instruction. Anyone finishing beyond six years must take a refresher course approved by the Maritime Administration before the degree is conferred. If new STCW competence requirements come in before you graduate, an approved updating course is required first.
Ask about deployment rate before you enrol. It is the single most consequential number about a maritime school, and the circular exists partly because it has been a chronic problem.
What MARINA requires for the Certificate of Competency
From MARINA's published OIC-EW requirements, a candidate must, among other things:
- Be not less than 18 years of age, with a Seafarer's Identification Record Book
- Have completed the 12-month approved seagoing service (or the 36-month alternative), documented through SIRB entries and a certificate of sea service
- Have performed six months of engine-room watchkeeping under supervision, evidenced by the Daily Journal of Engine-Room Watchkeeping Duties
- Submit a transcript of records for BSMarE bearing a Special Order number from an accredited maritime higher education institution
- Hold valid Certificates of Proficiency in Basic Training, Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats, Advanced Fire Fighting, and Medical First Aid
- Submit a valid medical certificate in PEME standard format from a DOH-accredited facility
- Pass the theoretical examination and the practical assessment at an accredited assessment centre
On completion MARINA issues the Certificate of Competency, Certificate of Endorsement, MARINA Board Certificate and MARINA licensure identification card. The circular sets those documents at five years' validity, with revalidation requiring continued medical fitness plus evidence of continued professional competence - typically 12 months of relevant seagoing service in the last five years, or three months in the six months immediately before revalidating, or passing a practical assessment, or completing an approved refresher course.
The examination rules are strict: all required competences must be passed within a period not exceeding 24 months, passes older than that expire, a candidate failing three or more competences in one sitting cannot resit within a month, and a candidate failing the same competence three times must show either three months' further approved seagoing service covering that competence or approved training taken after the third failure.
Disclaimer: MARINA circulars are revised periodically. Confirm the current requirements and fees on MARINA's STCW site before filing anything.
Careers the joint circular lists
For BSMarE graduates, the circular names: the merchant marine profession; the maritime industry, covering ship building and repair, ship operations and management, port operations and management, ship surveying and inspection, and the offshore industry; maritime education and training; industrial and commercial establishments; and government, specifically the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Coast Guard and MARINA.
The industrial and commercial line is worth noting - it appears for BSMarE and not for BSMT. Marine engineering training in diesel plant, steam plant, automation and electrical maintenance transfers to shore-based power generation and heavy industry, which matters if you decide later that you do not want to keep sailing.
On pay, seafaring compensation is set by rank, vessel type and manning agreement rather than by any Philippine government wage schedule, and it is quoted in US dollars. We cover the reported ranges and how they move with rank in our guide to seaman salary in the Philippines rather than repeating unsourced figures here.
What BS Marine Engineering costs
There is no national tuition rate for BSMarE, and we are not going to invent one. Beyond tuition, the cost structure of this programme is genuinely different from a shore-based degree: workshop consumables, STCW certificate courses, medical examinations, uniforms, seafarer documentation, and travel to and from vessel joining ports. Ask each school for the full picture, and ask specifically what is bundled into tuition and what is billed separately.
Questions worth asking before you enrol
- What is the school's onboard training deployment rate, and over what period? The joint circular's minimum is not less than 80 per cent from AY 2021-2022 onwards, within 18 months of completing classroom instruction.
- Which shipping companies does the school have training agreements with? Deployment depends on them.
- Does the school have a distinct College of Maritime Education? The circular requires one.
- Are the machine shop and electrical workshop actually equipped for the 432 hours? Go and look.
- What is the school's OIC-EW pass record? MARINA's examination and assessment is the outcome that matters.
If you are choosing between the engine and deck paths, read our BS Marine Transportation guide alongside this one. If you want a shore-based engineering degree with a PRC licence instead, our list of courses with board exams and our overview of PRC board exam requirements are the right starting points, and our note on the right strand for engineering covers senior high school preparation.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare programmes across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- Joint CHED-MARINA Memorandum Circular No. 01, s. 2019 - Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the BSMT and BSMarE Programs (CHED, PDF)
- MARINA STCW Administration Office - Mandatory Minimum Requirements for Certification of Officer-in-Charge of an Engineering Watch (OIC-EW), STCW circular (PDF)
- MARINA STCW Administration Office - Republic Act No. 10635
- Professional Regulation Commission - List of Professional Regulatory Boards
- Republic Act No. 4565, the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Law - copy hosted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PDF)
- CHED - CMO No. 70, s. 2017, Revised Implementing Guidelines on the Approved Seagoing Service Requirement for BSMT and BSMarE (PDF)
