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Studies & Degrees in Naval Engineering

Naval engineering, also called naval architecture and marine engineering, is the branch of engineering that deals with ships and other floating structures. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the work as designing, developing and evaluating marine vessels, ship machinery and related equipment such as power supply and propulsion systems. Naval architects concentrate on the hull and the ship as a whole; marine engineers concentrate on the machinery inside it.

Students start with the common base of engineering: mathematics, physics, materials, mechanics and drawing. They then move to the subjects of the field. These include ship geometry, buoyancy and stability, hydrodynamics, marine structures, engines and propulsion, on-board systems and shipbuilding processes. Ocean engineering extends the same knowledge to offshore platforms and to energy from wind, waves and currents.

Qualifications and levels

In Spain the profession is regulated at two levels, and the degrees are designed around them.

  • Bachelor's degree (grado). The profession of Ingeniero Técnico Naval requires an official bachelor's degree of 240 ECTS credits. Order CIN/350/2009 fixes its blocks: 60 credits of basic training, 60 credits common to the naval branch, 48 credits of a specific technology and a final project of 12 credits. The two specific technologies are marine structures, and propulsion and ship services. Degree names vary by university: Grado en Arquitectura Naval and Grado en Ingeniería Marítima at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, for example.
  • Master's degree. The profession of Ingeniero Naval y Oceánico requires an official master's degree. Under Order CIN/354/2009, bachelor's and master's training together must total at least 300 ECTS credits, and the master's itself does not exceed 120 credits. The degree is usually called Máster Universitario en Ingeniería Naval y Oceánica.
  • Doctorate. The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, for example, offers a Doctorado en Ingeniería Naval y Oceánica.

Other countries use their own structure. At the Università degli Studi di Genova, the first degree in Ingegneria Navale takes three years and 180 credits (CFU), and the laurea magistrale takes two years and 120 credits; both are taught in Italian.

Do not confuse these degrees with merchant navy studies. Degrees such as nautical studies and maritime transport, or marine technologies, train the officers who sail and run ships. Several of the schools below teach both families.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 20 active schools for naval engineering. Eleven are in Spain, where several entries are campuses or services of the same university. China, Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Italy, the United Kingdom, Nicaragua, Brazil and Ecuador have one each.

In Spain, the schools that teach naval engineering include:

  • the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, at its Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Navales
  • the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, with the Grado en Arquitectura Naval e Ingeniería de Sistemas Marinos and the Máster Universitario en Ingeniería Naval y Oceánica
  • the Universidad de Cádiz, at its Escuela de Ingeniería Naval y Oceánica in Puerto Real
  • the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, at the Facultat de Nàutica de Barcelona, which also teaches the merchant navy degrees
  • the Universidad de A Coruña, whose Escuela Politécnica de Ingeniería de Ferrol offers degrees in industrial and naval engineering

The Universidad de Cantabria and the Universidad de Oviedo have schools centred on marine engineering and nautical studies. The Universidad del País Vasco is also in the list.

Teaching in Spain is mainly in Spanish. The Madrid master's is taught in Spanish with some subjects in English, and it asks for CEFR level B2 in English and Spanish, or in whichever of the two is not the student's native language. Its page quotes €19.43 per ECTS credit on first enrolment, or €1,165.80 per year of 60 credits (page consulted in October 2026); check the current public price before enrolling.

Outside Spain, the list includes the Università degli Studi di Genova, the University of Zagreb, whose Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture was established in 1919, and the Universidade de São Paulo, whose department of naval and ocean engineering dates from 1956. It also includes Newcastle University, Harbin Engineering University, Alexandria University, the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral in Guayaquil and the Université des Sciences et de la Technologie d'Oran Mohamed Boudiaf.

Careers

Graduates work in shipyards, design offices, shipping companies, classification and inspection bodies, navies and maritime administrations. The Madrid bachelor's degree lists the building, repair, conversion and maintenance of ships among its professional profile. Its master's adds offshore and renewable energy, structures, digital transformation, decarbonisation and yacht design as specialisations.

For the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 8,400 jobs for marine engineers and naval architects in 2025 and projects growth of 7 percent from 2025 to 2035. No equivalent official figure for Spain was found for this page.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to become a naval engineer in Spain?

The bachelor's degree has 240 ECTS credits (four years at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) and qualifies for the profession of Ingeniero Técnico Naval. The profession of Ingeniero Naval y Oceánico requires an official master's degree on top, so that both together total at least 300 ECTS credits.

What is the difference between naval engineering and nautical studies?

Naval engineering is about designing and building ships and their systems. Nautical and marine degrees train merchant navy officers; at the Facultat de Nàutica de Barcelona, for example, they give access to the professions of deck officer and engineering officer.

Can I study naval engineering in English in Spain?

Mostly not. The degrees are taught mainly in Spanish; the Madrid master's has some subjects in English and requires level B2 in both languages for non-native speakers.