Based on ant colony optimization and particle swarm optimization, an optimization approach was presented to solve the arrangement problem of marine engine room. Facility layout and pipe routing are two important parts in the arrangement of marine engine room. Due to the small layout space, the large number of facilities, pipelines and complex constraints, it is hard to obtain the optimal design solution. Furthermore, facility layout and pipe routing are achieved respectively in actual design, in which the relationship between the two is neglected. In order to solve this problem, a mathematical model was built according to the constraints of both facility layout and pipe routing. The global optimum solution was obtained by the proposed algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.