Micheal Groak Hull

Examiner : Michael Groak (hull)
Time : 1hr 10 mins
Candidate : ajay verma for CE (M) GMA CANDIDATE

Mr Groak , said he has seen all the documents and straight away jumped to start with orals
1.He showed me a MAIB report , wherein he said OMD alarm has been activated on 2 stroke engine ,what will be your actions .
2.What will you inspect in the crankcase after cooling down period.
3.What could cause a hotspot.
4.What will happen in case of blackout .how u will restore power . (he asked me why ESB and MSB will have intrelock (I told him it will create short ckt ), why cannot run pll the emergency generator with Main generator (I was not sure about this one ).)
5.How will u fight fire if any
6.Asked me what happens when there is a blackout and specially asked what would happen to T/C of main engine . (wanted to know what will lubricate the T/C when all the LO pumps have stopped . I told him that its the small header tank provided on top of T/C )
7.Asked me now that all the fire has been extinguished, if any what checks you will carry out on the engine and he showed me the pictures of the engine (which was completely destroyed due to explosion) and said as a C/E what will you do .
8.What documents will you look for about the information about the engine. (told him PMS).
9.He asked why are we suppose to have PMS.
10.What are critical items , what onboard your vessel will be a critical item that u will not find on other type of vessel .(IGG ,as I was sailing only on tankers )
11.Asked me about SMS , ISM , DOC , SMC and their validity .
12.Asked me what certificate do we have onboard ship.
13.Than he asked me what certificates will be effected by assuming that the explosion has occur ed in one of the generator out of three generators. (safcon and CoC).
14.He said in PMS u discovered that generator had a major overhaul and than he showed me picture of con-rod and bush of the Gudgen pin . and said that the team which did the job on the engine removed the bush by using grinder rather than the correct procedure.After removing he said that new bush should be cooled and shrink fitted but the team just hammered it in . What effect will both these procedure would have on the Bush and Con rod . (I told him Grinder could have damaged con rod while taking out the bush and hammering the bush while fitting it would cause distortion . both these will act as stress raiser and that engine is four stroke it is subjected to greater cyclic stresses and thus causing fatigue failure and hence the HOTSPOT. He was very very happy with that answer )
15.
16.Than he asked me now u have informed company and that 3rd generator is a total loss and now the ship has to go to nearest port for repairs . how will u as a CE give orders to engine room staff and what orders so the ship can safely sail .( night orders ,manned engine room ..etc)
17.Now he said lets assume that we have a total loss of engine and we are suppose to goto DD for repairs , what will u do as CE. How will u prepare for dry dock. What documents will u send to the DD manager.
18.He asked me that the ship is DD , luckily we were ballast and we have a brand new engine , as a CE how will u commission this new engine . (I told him about that we will run this engine for a few min and measure bearing temperatures , flow of oil etc than slowly withing 12 hours bring it to full load . Monitor parameters , and than stop . test all alarms and trips on the generator and alarms and trip associated with generator on MSB. 200 hrs running check , change oil after running in …etc)
19. Next he said that You in DD , ship is on the Block please take me through what checks will u carry out as a CE (accompanied by surveyor ,DD manager ,Tech superintend). when I reached the propeller he said what checks would u carry out on Propeller.
20.Now he said what if one of the propeller blade is damaged and that would have been evident to you before you would come to DD . how u could have been certain as CE that propeller blade is damaged. (Told him propller blade could have got damaged by grounding , touching ..etc would cause imbalance on the propeller, this would have caused vibration , intermediate bearing wear and high temp , thrust pad vibration and eventually wear and clearance would increase , more fuel consumption and most importantly he wanted to that thrust pads being worn out would cause crankshaft to be pushed forward and cause damage to it )
21.Now he finally asked me that boiler is ready for survey what checks will u carry out with surveyor on boiler .
22.Than he finally asked about how will you maintain boiler water so that tubes will not be damaged (necking of tubes ). I told him maintain boiler water treatment .
23.Finally he asked me about caustic embitterment. How u will avoid it . wanted to know the name of chemicals .

Finally he said thats all about we have covered almost everything about syllabus and that he consider me pass . Need to improve upon certificate and their validity (I got mixed up with some ) and said gradually I will have enough experience to know more things as a CE that I Should know.
Michael was helpful throughout the interview and was giving hints and pushing me to get the answer . I found the oral questions to be different than I thought .