Pippa Whalley and Collum Leggett VS Daniel

Chief Officers Unlimited/ Master <3000GT Orals Exam Report
Date: 20th January 2026– 09:00
Examiner: Pippa Whalley and Collum Leggett
Experience: CONRO , Passenger ship since cadet and qualified
Duration: 1 hour 10 Minutes
Result: PASS
Pre-exam
Signed on to the exam 15 mins before the start of the exam. I had drafted an email before the start of the exam just in case the examiner was late in joining, fortunately this was not the case as both the examiner joined 5 mins before the start time. However, I would still advise everyone to do this and have a screenshot of you in the waiting room ready just in case. We were both ready to go so we just began. She ran through the examination procedure and asked for a tour of the room as well as showing what I had on the desk.
Initial Discussion
We went through the ships that I had sailed on and asked about my experiences with the companies that I had worked for. She then said that I would be placed on General Bulk Carrier Uk Flag.
At this point she asked me to confirm the exam I was sitting and that if any time she wanted me to answer as master she would clearly state.
Exam
1. Okay You’re joining as Chief mate on this General Bulk what are the roles of C/O?
2. What Certificate would you expect to find ?
3. Loading Iron Ore what is your considerations ?
4. How would you expect it to look in the hold , what are the dangers of Iron Ore?
5. Okay you mentioned high Density cargo can you explain to me what this is ?
6. You mentioned Marpol , can you tell me all the documents and certificates you’d expect with annex 1?
7. You mentioned loadline , tell me the types of loadline and what certificates you’d expect ?Would you have any additional on a passenger ship?
8. Preparing for loadline survey ?I talked at length to which she said Okay surveyor is onboard talk me through it ?
9. Okay back loading grain tell me about it ?What documentation would you expect ?
10. Can you tell me the grain Criteria ?
11. She gave me a scenario that I had gone for lunch and had left the 3/0 loading , was enjoying my lunch whenever I discovered the vessel was suddenly listed ?
12. Okay you’ve discovered it isn’t a list , can you explain to me what list and loll is ?
13. How would you correct angle of loll ? What is the intact stability criteria ?
14. While closing up the hold you see insects , actions ?What is a letter of protest ?
15. Can you tell me about EASS ? What about ACSS?
16. Tell me you’re understanding of PSC ?
17. Okay we are underway everything is fixed, you’re considering for voyage as chief officer ?
18. Its been reported two ab’s have been fighting can you talk me through actions as C/O?
19. While on voyage we need to entry the FW tank , tell me your plan ? ( I initially asked her which inspection into the FW tank would I be carrying out to which she clarified it would be 6 monthly )
20. While your sat on the bridge the job is ongoing its reported AB fallen actions ?
21. Hes gonna need helicopter evacuations , can you talk me through this ?
22. What certificates would this affect , where would you record it, will you conduct anything onboard ?
23. How would you report it to the Maib ?
24. Arriving now into port 25% of the crew are due to change considerations as C/O
25. You’d previously mentioned safety officer can you tell me what are the roles of safety Officer ?
26. You’ve a cadet joining in this port considerations ?
27. HOR of crew?HOR as young person?
28. How could you still ensure the cadet got night navigation experience ?
29. Okay v/l is back underway , two of the new crew are on watch you are coming up onto the bridge and discovering them fighting actions ?
30. V/L on voyage again fire onboard actions as Master ? Fire extinguished heading to dry dock considerations ?
31. Stability considerations ?You’ve mentioned P Force , critical instant and critical period tell me about it ?
32. Okay vessel back at sea , you’re master 2999 gt bulk carrier in your cabin and 2/o call you to tell you vessel is aground actions ?
At this point she asked me could I see her screen at this point I could not so I waited a minute and it appeared , while I waited for the screen to appear she said you mentioned salvage what is salvage ?
ROR
PDV Less than 50m ahead underway making way – she said okay your in the cabin 3/o call you and tell you he has agree over vhf collision avoidance with this v/l actions as master ? This lead onto a discussion regarding Rule 14 and disciplinary procedure
CBD probably more than 50m underway, seen port side on the port Bow 4 points actions ? What rule is this here ?
RAM engaged in underwater operations stopped or at anchor ? Actions ?
Changed her screen to a tss two vessel one inside the tss and one crossing from the STBD side and she highlighted I was on the v/l inside the TSS and the others was a PDV , Actions and rules applied ?
Okay it’s now a fishing vessel , Actions ? You said why can you go to port under which rule?
At this point she said okay I’m gonna stop the exam and discuss with my colleague , this should talk around 5 minutes ( these 5 minutes felt like the longest five minutes of my life ) Okay you’ve passed , How do you think the exam went ? At this point we briefly chatted for 5 minutes and she gave me feedback on the exam and asked me to check my email.
I would like to express a massive thank you to Vinil at GMA for the Oral Class and Paul at Whitehorse for delivering such excellent clinics.A sincere thank you as well to my friends and family for their constant support throughout this journey.Final thanks go to the study groups with my mates — the preparation was excellent and the motivation they provided was invaluable in the lead-up to the big day.A special shout-out to a family friend, a serving Master, who once again stepped in and provided outstanding guidance, support, and preparation. I’m extremely grateful to everyone who contributed to this achievement.
Hope this was useful and best of Luck.