Chief Engineer salary: October 2026
Median pay for Chief Engineer: $9,500 per month, counted from 2,967 vacancies over the last 90 days. Half of the offers fall within $7,950–$12,650. Typical contract 4 months. Updated 03/10/2026.
- Median, lower bound
- $9,500
- Half of the offers
- $7,950–$12,650
- Median, upper bound
- $10,000
- Typical contract
- 4 months
- Vacancies over 90 days
- 2,967
By vessel type
| Vessel type | Median, lower bound | Median, upper bound | Vacancies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil Tanker | $13,500 | $14,450 | 633 |
| General Cargo Ship | $8,400 | $8,500 | 567 |
| Bulk Carrier | $9,800 | $10,000 | 315 |
| Container Ship | $9,500 | $10,000 | 256 |
| Chemical Tanker | $13,500 | $14,000 | 204 |
| Gas Tanker | $15,600 | $16,000 | 125 |
| Tug | $3,450 | 76 | |
| Car Carrier/Ro-Ro | $9,600 | $10,200 | 33 |
| Offshore Vessel | $7,000 | 25 | |
| Heavy Lift Vessel | $9,600 | $9,800 | 17 |
Each row is one vessel type of the reference book: close source codes are merged into it and counted together. Rows start at 10 vacancies. The vessel type is not stated in 629 of the group's postings, and in 60 more it is given as a code the reference book does not carry. That is why the rows add up to less than the total.
How this is counted
Source: postings shown on the platform over the last 90 days, dated by the last time each was seen; external postings are included and shown with their source.
Only monthly rates are counted: 28,374 postings out of 37,174. Day rates (685) and postings whose period stayed unknown (7,186) are left out.
In 12,764 of the counted postings the source did not state the period and the platform set it to monthly from the size of the rate: no day rate on this market runs that high. The threshold depends on the currency, for the US dollar it is $1,000 per month.
Amounts are converted to US dollars at the rate current when the posting was collected: the platform keeps no history of daily rates.
The figures are a median and the 25th and 75th percentiles, not an average: a single inflated posting moves an average and barely moves a median.
Groups below 20 vacancies are not published, and a vessel-type row starts at 10. Rates outside $200 and $40,000 per month are treated as source errors and left out.
Vacancies with negotiable pay are left out of the count: 2,276 of them in the window.
Updated 03/10/2026, window from 05/07/2026 to 03/10/2026.
Questions and answers
What does a Chief Engineer earn on vessels of type Oil Tanker?
Median lower bound $13,500 per month, counted from 633 vacancies over 90 days.
What is the typical contract length for a Chief Engineer?
4 months. The length is stated in 2,611 postings out of 2,967.
What is the salary range for a Chief Engineer?
Half of the offers fall within $7,950–$12,650, with a median of $9,500 per month.
How many Chief Engineer vacancies were there over 90 days?
2,967 vacancies with a monthly rate. Updated 03/10/2026.
Where can I see current Chief Engineer vacancies?
Current postings are collected in the vacancy section for this rank: https://crewing.rynda.io/en/jobs/chief-engineer (the list is updated every day).