[esailor Team]

Length: 1hr 20mins
I was given a link to join the week prior. I had no idea which marine office would be examining me. I did my cadetship at South Shields but got an examiner from Aberdeen Marine Office.
I signed on 20 mins early. The examiner joined the meeting at exactly 1400. She asked me to confirm my name and DOB, made sure I was aware of MGN69, confirm my phone was turned off, and then I scanned the laptop around the room. She explained that I wasn’t allowed headphones or virtual backgrounds and if I needed to use the bathroom I would need to fully answer her question first. Once I confirmed that I could see her shared screen she said we could begin.
(She also highlighted that she would respond to every answer with OK. That would only be to acknowledge that she heard me and doesn’t mean that I’ve answered correctly. So please don’t take my answers to be correct.)
• Tell me about your last ship?
• Ok, we’ll start you off on the bridge…tell me how you would take over the watch at night. Tell me when you wouldn’t take over the watch?
• Showed me a picture of a sextant. Tell me what you would use a sextant for?
• Ok, you mentioned vertical sextant angle. Tell me how you do that.
• How would you use a sextant for cel nav.
• What does the MerPas give you and what do you work out from it.
• What are the correctable errors of a sextant?
• Go into more depth about correcting each one.
• Showed me a picture of a mason’s hygrometer in a stevensons screen.
• What is this? Tell me more about the wet bulb setup. What do you use it for? Why do you care about dew point? What other purpose would you use masons hygrometer for? (I said whirling psychrometer in a cargo hold)
• Showed me a picture of a hydrometer. What is this used for? How would you go about measuring the dock water density with it? What can you calculate from the density? How do you calculate DWA? Why do you care about DWA? If you’re going from dock water to sea water, what will happen to your draught normally?
• Showed me a picture of a magnetic compass. How would you inspect/maintain the magnetic compass?
• What are the errors? What is deviation? What is variation? Where do you get variation? How will that look exactly on the compass rose of a chart?
• How would you calculate a gyro error?
• What could you use for an azimuth?
• Walk me through how you would do an azimuth with the sun then.
• Ok, tell me about the ISM code and what’s in it. (Waiting for me to say Planned Maintenance System)
• What kind of PMS did you have on your last ship?
• Ok, you mentioned responsibility earlier. You join your last vessel as third officer and read through your responsibilities in the SMS. What would you expect it to say?
• You mentioned keeping a safe navigational watch. What other kind of watch do you keep on the bridge?
• How do you keep a GMDSS watch…what channels will you be listening on VHF and something for longer ranges?
• Ok you also mentioned LSA earlier. What kind of LSA checks would you be doing? (I discussed Lifeboat weekly, monthly. Then she stopped me when I mentioned Liferafts)
• Tell me how to check the HRU. Where is the painter line attached to? What are the markings on the liferaft casing. She wanted to know specifically if the ships details are displayed anywhere on the liferaft. I blanked and had a little discussion about it. She tried to help by saying liferafts get moved from ship to ship so do you expect them to change the markings everytime? (I still couldn’t remember how they’re displayed so said I’ll know from looking in the LSA code) What else will you do if you don’t know something? (Ask a senior officer or the Master) (At the end of the exam she said she was looking for the red tube attached to the liferaft. I simply forgot.)
• Tell me some more LSA checks? Specifically on the bridge wing? What makes those lifebuoys different to other ones?
• What will you have to do with on-signers before they can carry out any work? What’s involved with giving a familiaristation?
• Ok, you’re on the bridge and you get a phone call from a crew member. He says another crew member has fallen overboard starboard side. What are your actions? What’s your concern specifically in terms of going hard-over on a large container ship? (She just wanted to know that the engineers need to be informed that we’ll be reducing speed drastically)
• You’re entering port and the Captain tells you to go down to get the Pilot. What will you bring with you and what will you be checking? How is a pilot ladder constructed, what materials?
• Pilot’s on the bridge, what do you expect him and the captain to discuss? You mentioned Pilot Card, tell me what’s on the Pilot Card? What kind of particulars?
• Ok, you’re in port engaged in bunkering. Suddenly the bunker hose bursts at the manifold and oil is spraying everywhere. What are your actions? What kind of equipment will you find in your SOPEP?
• What are the dangers involved with an enclosed space entry? What causes the atmosphere to be dangerous? Explain to me how you would go about testing the atmosphere of an enclosed space. Is there anything you need to fill out before you do an enclosed space entry? Does it need to be authorised by anyone?
• How will you set-up your RADAR for collision avoidance?
• What’s the difference between ground stabilised and sea stabilised? I explained the difference and that ground uses gps or echo reference. Yes, but what does gps give you? How does sea stabilised actually work? She kept pushing until I said speed-log for sea. At the end of the exam she explained that gps gives speed over ground which makes it ground stabilised.
• How do you know where your blind sectors are?

So we were about 45 mins into the exam now.

• She put up a picture of a radar plot with 3 echoes as shown:
She explained that they were taken in order of the outer one first, then the middle, then the closest one. Please copy this onto your plotting sheet and work out the radar plot. Your speed in relation to the time is 2 rings and your heading is 000 degrees. Held it up to the camera for her to see. What information can you get from the relative line? Does risk of collision exist? What is restricted visibility? In this case, what will your actions be?

COLREGS
I was shown an animated picture for each situation of a vessel with a day shape. I noticed there was a play button in the bottom left but this was never used.

• PDV crossing from stbd. Actions?
• CBD head on. Actions?
• RAM engaged in dredging/under water ops, head on. Actions? Safe to pass her stbd side.
• NUC crossing from port. Actions?
• Overtaking PDV, actions? Why not go to Port?(I can but I rather keep my stbd side clear)
• Birds eye view of TSS. You are vessel following lane. PDV crossing from stbd. Actions? How should they cross the TSS?
• Narrow channel, vessel ahead. She simply asked what sound signal would you make and what signal would they make if they agree?
• How long is a prolonged blast?
• As a PDV, who do you give way to under rule 18?
• Who does a VEIF give way to under rule 18?

Next was lights. Just a black screen with pre made light arrangements. She wanted to know everything: Type, length, underway/makingway, aspect, day shape, fog signal.
• PDV, prob 50m or more, stbd aspect
• Towing RAM, less than 50m towing vsl, tow exceeds 200m
• VEIF, stern light or outlying gear more than 150m
• Pilot vessel
• Sailing Vessel, combined lantern, head on
• Anchor, prob more than 50m
• Aground, prob more than 50m. After I said the fog signal she asked what other fog signal. I wasn’t sure so she hinted at morse code. I said uniform on ships whistle. What does that mean? What’s the morse code for uniform?
Buoyage
I was given one buoy at a time, no top mark, no buoyage direction, no compass direction. She kept alternating between direction of buoyage and my heading was either 090 degrees or 000 degrees for cardinals. They happened to be region A but a mixture wouldn’t have surprised me. She wanted type, region, what it indicates, top mark, light and action.
• Port hand lateral. Inbound and outbound?
• Stbd hand, preferred channel to port, outbound?
• Special mark with port hand lateral significance.
• North Cardinal, heading 090 degrees
• Safe Water Mark
• East Cardinal, heading 000 degrees
• Isolated Danger. When she asked for action I said give wide berth and in the observance of good seamanship pass to starboard. She then asked, are you not concerned that you planned a passage through an isolated danger? I took the hint and said I would call the Master, verify my position on the chart, assess the chart and consider stopping. She seemed happy with that answer.

After that she said we had finished and asked me how I thought it went. She said I passed and then discussed any parts that I struggled with. Such an amazing feeling to hear the word pass!
Big thanks to the lecturers at South Shields Marine School and the oral prep from Whitehorse Maritime. Thanks to my classmates for all their help and support! Wishing you guys all the best with your upcoming exams and your future careers!

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