Maritime Knowledge Base
Browse questions and answers across marine machinery, merchant navy careers, shipboard operations and maritime glossary terms.
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Marine Machinery
Troubleshooting guides for pumps, boilers, purifiers, compressors and auxiliary systems.
Merchant Navy Careers
Questions about joining the merchant navy, exams, cadetships, ranks and sea-time.
Maritime Glossary
Plain-English definitions of shipping, engine-room, navigation and regulatory terms.
Shipboard Operations
Practical Q&A for watchkeeping, safety, maintenance routines and onboard documentation.
Results for "Steam"
How does a marine boiler work?
A marine boiler generates steam by transferring heat to water — this covers the working principle and the difference between oil-fired and exhaust-gas boilers.
Shipboard OperationsWhat should be checked during engine-room watchkeeping rounds?
How to make an engine-room round count — comparing live readings against normal ranges and catching trends before they become failures.
Marine MachineryWhat causes a fluctuating water level in a marine boiler?
Why a boiler gauge glass swings — priming, foaming, load swings, feed control and level-sensor faults — and the safety response when the true level is in doubt.
Marine MachineryWhat causes a scavenge fire in a two-stroke marine engine?
A scavenge fire is the ignition of accumulated oil and carbon in the scavenge spaces of a two-stroke engine — here is why it happens and how to respond.
Marine MachineryWhat causes a marine engine turbocharger to surge?
Turbocharger surging is a violent, audible instability of the airflow through the compressor — it signals a mismatch between the turbocharger and the engine's demand.
Marine MachineryWhy does the auxiliary boiler flame keep failing or the burner keep tripping?
Repeated boiler flame failure trips the burner on the flame monitor — the causes run through the fuel, the ignition, the air and the flame-detection system.
Shipboard OperationsWhat are the classes of fire and which extinguishers are used on ships?
Fires are grouped into classes by what is burning, and each class needs the right extinguishing agent — using the wrong one can be ineffective or dangerous.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is lock-out tag-out (LOTO) and why is it used aboard ship?
Lock-out tag-out is the practice of isolating a machine's energy sources and physically locking and tagging them off before maintenance, so it cannot be started or energised while someone is working on it.
Marine MachineryWhat is a shaft generator and why is it used?
A shaft generator produces electrical power by being driven from the main engine or propeller shaft, so the ship can meet its electrical needs at sea without running separate auxiliary generators.
Marine MachineryWhy is boiler water treated on a ship and how?
Boiler water is chemically treated and tested to prevent scale, corrosion and carryover, which would damage the boiler, reduce its efficiency and threaten safety.
