Precise temperature control of engine cooling system makes it possible to operate the engines without stopping

Gauges at the Control Room are used to monitor the condition of machinery

The steering unit uses electro-hydraulic systems to turn the rudder

Control systems on ships are complex. Some are automatic and some are manual controls.

Many control systems in a Motorship use pneumatic dry compressed air because of its non-explosive nature, and availability. In modern ships, more and more electrical and electronic controls are installed, especially in the control rooms. Hydraulic remote controls are usually used in tanker cargo control rooms for valve operation.

A marine engineer has to be familiar with control systems in order to maintain the operation condition of his machinery well. He has to handle controllers, positioners, measuring elements, set points, transducers, and transmitters. He has to know how to tune for optimum performance in proportional, integral and derivative modes in order to achieve steady state pressures, temperatures, or level conditions.

In a modern Unmanned Ship, the control system is designed so that no personnel are necessary to be in the engine room during the night. All the machinery is designed to be automatic in operation, while the main engine can be controlled on the Bridge.

In actual practice, control systems do fail, and marine engineers have to troubleshoot and rectify on the control systems also. For that reason, all the automatic control systems can usually be switched to manual control when necessary.

Check out the cooling systems for Main Diesel Engine.