tony glasgow

Date: December 16th 2019
Result: Pass
Duration: 1530-1645
Experience: Car Carrier, Container, Passenger

Exam was scheduled for 1500 but examiner didn’t arrive until 1530. Did the usual procedures, check my certificates then told me what to do if there was a fire. Capt Wilson is like a rock, he gives nothing away, he very sternly told me that “the end result of this exam is non-negotiable”, he then told me to take as much water as I need, “cause you’re going to need it…” and then commenced the exam.

COLREGS & Buoys:
Started straight away with the smarty boards, as much info as possible about what you see:
1. RAM Towing seen from starboard side, length of tow exceeds 200m
2. Vessel aground over 100m
3. Trawling vessel less than 50m, shooting nets, what day signal in addition to diamond? (Zulu Flag)
4. IALA Region B Port hand lateral mark
5. West & East Cardinal – All Information, what would you do if you seen both ahead and you’re heading north?
– I answered “Alter my course starboard around the danger”, which he replied “what will you have passed if you see them both ahead”. Then I corrected my action and said I would stop the vessel, sound around the ship etc.
6. Do you know Rule 9, tell me about it?
7. If a vessel doesn’t want you to overtake, what would you sound?
8. Tell me about rule 10?
9. Laid out a TSS on the table, my PDV is crossing TSS, risk of collision with a sailing vessel, what do you do?
– I said to go to starboard or slow down, “rule 10 does not relieve any vessel of their obligations under any other rule”.
10. “Everyone’s favorite rule, rule 19, tell me about it?
11. Before I could get to the actions, he said stop, and laid out a radar plot on the table. Told me to complete the plot. What action would you take?

12. What sound signal would you make when manoeuvring in restricted visibility?
– Other than the making way or not-making way signals – NONE.
13. On the table he put my ship in the middle, and created a circle with about 10 other ships facing inward at my vessel. He said “Okay you’re the Captain and your Second Mate has called you up to the bridge late as always and you experience this. What do you do?”
– I said I’d ensure that the second mate had engage hand steering and slowed the vessel down for best control and to allow more time to assess the situation. He still wanted more, so I told him Id stop the ship.

General Questions:
14. “If your engineers actually do any work at all, they’ll most likely be filling in an Oil Record Book. Can you tell me everything you know about this and what is recorded in it?”
– MARPOL Annex I, All tankers >150GT, all other ships >400GT, ballasting or cleaning of oil fuel tanks, discharge of dirty ballast or cleaning water from oil fuel tanks etc.
15. What else does MARPOL cover?
– Just said each of the annexes he was happy with that.
16. Garbage Record Book, what is noted in it?
– Date, time, position, estimated discharge…..
17. What would you get from shoreside upon receipt of Garbage? What does it look like?
Just guessed and said Garbage Receipt….he seemed happy with that.
18. Laid out a gnomic chart on table, “you’re on a passage from Kingston to Glasgow. You’re Chief mate of a general cargo ship, what are your considerations prior to leaving?”
– I started off by talking about liaising with the Second Officer and developing a passage plan.*At the end of the exam he told me that this is not what he wanted to hear as this is Second Officer stuff*. I brought it back to relevance by discussing about loadlines and fuels reserves. Winter zones and ice limits. He still wanted more so I started talking about crew hours of work shedules, and safe manning for the bridge especially around the islands near Kingstown. Stated that crew work schedules as per MLC must be posted for the crew to see. He seemed happy and moved on.
19. “Going back to loading cargo on your vessel, how would you know how to stow all different types of general cargo?”
– Approved Cargo Securing Manual, CSS Code etc..
20. “You are in the middle of the Atlantic and you hear a weak MAYDAY signal then no repeated messages, what do you do?”
– Jot down info in GMDSS Log, commence incident logging
– Broadcast message on Ch 16, asking for vessel in distress
– Contact the nearest MRCC giving all information
21. MRCC Tell you that there is a vessel in distress 10 miles away from your position, what do you do?
– SOLAS Ch. V Reg 33. Master to proceed with all speed to distress position.
– Prepare vessel as per IAMSAR
22. What information can be found in IAMSAR?
Waffled on about IAMSAR, 3 Main Points:
– Responding to emergencies
– Being OSC
– Dealing with own emergencies
23. You arrive at position and there is debris in water and looks like a vessel has sank, what do you do?
– Inform MRCC
– If you are OSC then start planning a SAR effort for persons in the water
24. “If you just had your vessel and a plane, what search pattern would you use?”
– Creeping line search, drew it for him
25. “You’ve spotted a man in the water, wind & tide are ahead and the seas are very rough, how do you recover him?”
– I initially said I would put the port bow on to the wind and the swell, this means I could provide a good lee for the rescue boat launch. He told me to think again, I realised that my actions were correct, just that I’d only created a lee for the recue boat and not the man in the water. I moved the boat forward to create a lee for the MOB and he was happy with that so moved on.
26. What are the hours of rest for seafarers?
– Min 10 Hours Rest in 24-hour period
– Min 77 Hours Rest in 7-day period
27. “Is that all, what about under 18’s?
– Min 12 Hours Rest in 24-hour period
– Min 48 hours off in 7-day period
– Every 4.5 hours worked, 30 mins break
28. You have a new Chief Mate signing on, you are the Master. What are you checking?
– STCW Certs
– Discharge Book
– SEA
– Medical
29. “How long does a medical last?”
– 2 Years
30. “How do you know Chief Mates COC is valid on your British flagged ship?”
If it is a COC from a foreign country and they are party to the STCW Convention then they will be issued a CEC. If no CEC obtained yet, then a CRA (confirmed receipt of application from MCA is valid for 3 months while CEC is being processed)
31. “What is Port State Control?”
– Verifying the compliance of foreign ships with British regulations in British waters bla bla bla
32. “Can British ships be port state controlled in UK?”
– Felt a bit cheeky answering how I did but he seemed to like the answer, “em no, cause the inspectors are from the Flag state so if it’s a British ship then it’s just a Flag State Inspection….”
33. “How does Port State Control inspect ships? What powers do they have?”
– I knew exactly what kind of answer he wanted I just couldn’t remember it. It was to do with the risk factors and inspection frequencies. I completely blagged this one (he told me at the end that this is going to be a hot topic as the MCA are increasing their Port State Control quotas in 2020)
34. “What is the MAIB? What Accidents are you to report?”
– Brief Description, referred to MGN 564 when I ran out of answers

Manoeuvre:
35. Single screw, right hand fixed pitch propeller. Port side to key. One vessel astern, how would you spring off and proceed out of port with wind & tide on the head?
– I sprung off using the aft spring to ensure no damage to vessel behind. Then came off laterally using bow thruster and propeller. Once good distance off the berth I came ahead.

We finished at that and he told me that he was happy that I met the requirements of the syllabus. He smiled for the first time and then stamped my book and told me to get the fuck out.

Capt Wilson does not waste time, he fires lots of questions at you very quick. I quite liked this method as it doesn’t give you enough time to worry about if you don’t know something or not, you just fire off what you know and he moves on to the next question. Like I said above, he gives nothing away but he is a very fair examiner. Just keep on talking until told to stop.