How To Become A Marine Steam Fitter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a marine steam fitter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a marine steam fitter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.33 an hour? That's $73,477 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 9,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMarine Steam FitterUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $73,477

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.99%

Asian 1.87%

Black or African American 9.31%

Hispanic or Latino 18.16%

Unknown 4.17%

White 65.51%

Gender

female 3.57%

male 96.43%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.4

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a marine steam fitter

Explore marine steam fitter education requirements

Most common marine steam fitter degrees

High School Diploma

46.2 %

Associate

26.9 %

Bachelor's

15.4 %

Start to develop specific marine steam fitter skills

Skills	Percentages
Hot Water	39.90%
HVAC	24.34%
Plumbing	21.88%
Permanent Repairs	5.28%
Pipe Systems	5.16%

Complete relevant marine steam fitter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New marine steam fitters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a marine steam fitter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real marine steam fitter resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed marine steam fitter usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed marine steam fitter in most of states. 26 states require marine steam fitters to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Certified Master Gas Fitter
Maryland	Specific course required	State exam required	GAS FITTER
Arkansas	Degree required	Both state and third-party exams required	Gas Fitter
Colorado	-	State exam required	Master Plumber
Connecticut	-	State exam required	Plumbing & Piping Unlimited Contractor

Research marine steam fitter duties and responsibilities

Respond to service calls to effect repairs on plumbing, heating and cooling systems.
Sheet metal- install, fabricate, demo, repair, install roof top units, black pipe install
Work on shoot down, demo old pipe, sketch and field run new piping and test all pipe.
Perform commercial plumbing and heating repairs, construction and renovations of facility, and install and maintain commercial kitchen equipment

Apply for marine steam fitter jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a marine steam fitter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams