>>1672230idk about deck but after day shift ends for engine cadets, go to dinner, go back to the engine room to trace systems, read the engineer's operating manual, take a lot of notes, if the ER runs on a watch standing schedule ask to rotate through all the watches, help the licensed guys with their overtime work, stay on the ship in port if they're doing overhauls for anything, if inspectors come aboard see what they do. do all maneuverings and learn how the control room (or wheelhouse for deck) is used at this time.
>>1672416you can get the electro-technical officer endorsement as a licensed engineer (relatively unknown in the US but it exists within the CFRs, see if UK has a similar thing), you just need sign offs for all the electrical side of things, power distribution, control systems, radio, computer networks, etc I've read of some jobs on cruise ships where ETO is all you do but you're responsible for ALL electrical/controls/navigation on the ship. Military Sealift Command ETO guys get paid a lot (more than 3AE and possibly 2AE) for little work, my radio guy when I sailed as a cadet would workout in the middle of the day and watch movies kek.
>>1673280I sailed on a fleet oiler, any questions? from what I've heard from others at MSC, special mission ships are max comfy, GOCO ships are the best for union sailing