Anonymous vs Rodrigo Fraga

Orals report: Chief Mate’s – 22/02/2019 15:00-16:20 Rodrigo Fraga
Captain Jackson – result  Pass
Ship type: Passenger / General Cargo

1) Gave me a Risk Assessment form for rigging a Pilot Ladder and left the room for 10 minutes. Came back and asked about my last ship and its’ characteristics
2) After I mentioned ships’ GT, he said: what is GT, why is it important to you?
3) What was your ships class? (class I) what does that mean?
4) What certification does a PAX vessel carry? (I mentioned 8 or so…)
5) How do you know how many passengers you can carry? In which certificate is this info?
6) He stopped me and said: why PSSC? What does it replace from other ship types?
7) What is in it? What is record of equipment? What is listed there? (I said LSA, FFE, Nav equip., Pubs, Pilot embarkation/ladder – he stopped me)
8) I come onboard your vessel as a surveyor, what certification from LSA will you show me? He wanted to hear lifeboats, winches, static/dynamic tests, Liferafts, winches for liferafts, wires
9) What info do you find on a wire certificate? (diam., number of strands, core, breaking load, SWL) How do you know the wire is a proper one for your LSA? I said through the certificate and SWL. He pulled out a wire certificate and said: I don’t see a SWL here, where is it? I told him it must be calculated… He gave me a calculator, pen and paper! (I worked it out and he moved on)
10) He looked at the Risk Assessment and asked why I wrote proper handling of ladder to prevent back injury. What regulation applies to that? I said COSWP – not happy! I mentioned Health & Safety. What are all the regulations under Merchant Shipping Health and Safety? I could only remember PUWER, LOLER and PPE regs. He got frustrated, pulled out MGN 69 (Orals syllabus) and showed me “knowledge of the application of current Merchant Shipping Health and Safety legislation”.  this was my referral question
11) Told me Working at height regs was one of them. What is on it? What is classified as working at height? I said 3 meters. He said no! “Any height which poses a danger of harm/injury” – he quoted from the Regulation.
12) Buoyage: gave me compass and direction of buoyage only
Isolated danger mark, preferred channel to stbd (can shape, red/green/red – region A), East and West cardinal marks, special buoy, safe water
13) Grabbed all 3 IMDG books from the shelf, opened Volume 2 and gave me 1414 Lithium Hydride: tell me the information about it. What is class? Packing group? Limited quantities, explain… EmS? How do you segregate it? He had me going through all 3 books for quite a few minutes looking for the information and as I found them he kept asking for additional clarification on various things from the Code.
14) How do you know your ship could carry this item? I mentioned DOC. What else? (he was looking for construction on SOLAS chapter II) What certification do you need? What is on the DOC? Where else is there info from product you will carry? (shipper’s info)
15) Where do you find you duty as Chief Officer? I said SMS.
16) List me C/O’s duties…
17) Stability… (showed me his Stability Booklet from a distance) what is on the booklet? I mentioned ship’s characteristics, tanks details, cargo tanks/holds details, ullages, hydrostatic particulars, KN tables, max KG tables, table with angles of flooding/DEI, GZ curves for different conditions, Damage stability… After I stopped he said: you missed Wind Heeling moments and Light ship info.
18) What do you enter Hydrostatic particulars table with? I said TMD!
19) What is TMD?
20) Then opened the stab. Booklet and said what is this (TPC)? Give me a formula with it. I wrote down FWA = ∆s / 4 x tpc He said: that’s no use to me. Where can you find FWA? I said Loadline certificate. He answered: give me another formula then! I told him about Sinkage/Cargo.
21) What is this (MCTC)? Give me a formula with it. I wrote down CoT = Trim. MOM/MCTC
22) What is trimming moment? How do you calculate it?
23) Explain LCB
24) Explain LCF
25) Smarty board: single green light on my port side about 30⁰. What is it? What are your actions? I said stbd or slow down to let it pass ahead.
26) Can you go to port? I said yes. Then why didn’t you go to port first? Wouldn’t that be better? I said yes, it would be a more appropriate action.
27) Can it show additional lights? (yes) Which ones? What is the fog signal?
28) 3 red lights, 1 green and 2 masthead lights on my port about 30⁰. What is it? What are your actions? CBD crossing… I would alter to port, early action to not impede her passage.
29) What is the day shape? Fog signal?
30) He pulled up a radar plot with one single dot near the edge of the circle on my stbd side. You are on watch, what do you do? I would acquire the target, making use of ARPA functions on my radar.
31) What else? I would use the binoculars to spot the target.
32) What info do you get from it? To get lights/aspect and assess the state visibility.
33) What rule is that? (rule 6)
34) He said ok, CPA 0, TCPA 48 min… What’s your action? I asked: what info do I have on the target. He said: ARPA already calculated (3 minutes), full info available. What do you do? I thought he wanted an avoiding action and told him I would alter course (rule 8, large enough, early, positive). He was frustrated and said: Really? Do you do that when on watch? Alter with 40+ minutes CPA? I said no, I would use all other means to assess situation before taking action. It was too late, he wasn’t happy and moved on.
35) Radar plot: Own vessel course 025⁰ speed 10 knots. Range – 12NM
1 target dead ahead (025⁰), 3 dots – 00, 06, 12 minutes, distance O-A 2NM
1 target bearing 180⁰ true, 3 dots – 00, 06, 12 minutes, O-A 2NM
Handed me parallel rules, pencil, eraser, calculator and dividers. “Give me a full radar plot” and left the room.
Returned 10 minutes later and asked for CPA, TCPA, Speed and Course of both vessels. (vessel 1 was stopped, W-A same position – vessel 2 was overtaking me, both with CPA 0’)
Rule 19, what is your action?
What actions can the overtaking vessel take? Why?

Referral: Come back Monday morning and give me a full list of all Regulations under Merchant Shipping Health & Safety and a complete assessment of bridge procedures after detecting a target!

On Monday I brought him what he had asked for. He asked me a few details on “employment of young persons” regulations and then waited for me to quote them all….
He let me explain radar functions and use of bridge equipment briefly (compass bearings, EBL, VRM, vectors true/relative, trails, AIS, etc)
He stopped me, extended his hand (for a hand shake) and said congratulations.

I would like to thank all the lecturers (Donald, Andy, Ian, P. English, Manoj, etc) for all their help and guidance through this process and all my classmates for their support as well.