The article analyses the operation of reciprocal internal combustion engines, with marine engines used as an example. The analysis takes into account types of energy conversion in the work spaces (cylinders) of these engines, loads of their crankshaft-piston assemblies, and types of fuel combustion which can take place in these spaces during engine operation. It is highlighted that the analysed time-dependent loads of marine internal combustion engine crankshaft-piston assemblies are random processes. It is also indicated that the wear of elements of those assemblies resulting from their load should also be considered a random process. A hypothesis is formulated which explains random nature of load and the absence of the theoretically expected detonation combustion in engines supplied with such fuels as Diesel Oil, Marine Diesel Oil, and Heavy Fuel Oil. A model is proposed for fuel combustion in an arbitrary work space of a marine Diesel engine, which has the form of a stochastic four-state process, discrete in states and continuous in time. The model is based on the theory of semi-Markov processes.