OOW Oral - July 2011

Candidate: Lee Bradfield
Exam: OOW Unlimited

Date: 4th July 2011
Office: Plymouth
Examiner: Captain Hills
Result: Pass
After a brief discussion of the ships I had sailed on during my sea time,
Captain Hill asked the following questions, albeit not in this order:
1. Seafarers Hours of Work and Rest

- What are requirements regarding hours of work and rest?
- I mentioned the STCW and ILO regulations.
2. Steering Gear Tests

- What steering gear checks would you carry out before departure?
- I quoted the regulations found within SOLAS Chapter 5.
- I also informed him of the timed checks that should be made when
testing the rudder movement (i.e. hard over on one side to 30
degrees on the other side etc.).
3. Gyro Compass
- How does a gyrocompass work?
- As an OOW, what gyro errors are you most concerned about?
- I explained the theory behind a gyroscope and what was required to
make a gyroscope into a gyrocompass (i.e. torque etc.).
- I then explained the five main variable gyro errors.
4. ISM Code
- What is the Safety Management Certificate?
- Who issues it? How long is it valid for? When should it be
inspected?
- What is the Document of Compliance?
- Who issues it? How long is it valid for? When should it be
inspected?
5. SOPEP
- What is SOPEP?
- I mentioned MARPOL Annex 1 and the content of the plan.
6. Buoyage
- Can you define a preferred channel mark?
- What is meant by is isophase and occulting?
- Captain Hills then placed some buoys on the table (with no top
marks) and asked me to navigate around them with a model ship.
- I had to go against the direction of buoyage and also provide full
details of each buoy.
1
- Buoys: Isolated Danger Mark, Safe Water Mark, Special Mark,
Starboard Hand Special Mark, East Cardinal Mark, Emergency
Wreck Mark, IALA B Port Hand Lateral Mark, IALA A Preferred
Channel Mark to Port.
7. Stability
- What effect will the loading of steel have on the stability of a general
cargo vessel?
- Will a general cargo ship, loaded with steel, typically be ʻstiffʼ or
ʻtenderʼ in a seaway?
- What is meant by the term ʻstiffʼ?
- What are the dangers of a ʻstiffʼ ship?
- I discussed GM and why the centre of gravity would be very low
and how this would affect the vessel, highlighting the main causes
for concern.
8. Cargo
- When loading steel, are there any dangers or stresses that you
would be concerned about, with regards to the shipʼs hull?
- What would you do to ensure the cargo doesnʼt cause damage to
the shipʼs structure during loading operations?
- What are your considerations when loading containers?
- When loading containers, what is of particular concern with regards
to the shipʼs stability? Would you place much weight on the stability
data?
- I told Captain Hills that the container weights declared are typically
less than their actual weights, and the consequences of such.
- We then discussed the MSC Napoli.
9. Vessel Aground
- Captain Hills placed some lights in front of me and asked me what
the lights indicate: vessel aground.
- If you saw these lights ahead what are your actions (as OOW)?
10. Restricted Visibility

- There is a fog bank up ahead, what are your actions (as OOW)?
- You are in clear visibility, with a fog bank up ahead. You sight a
power-driven vessel on your port side and risk of collision exists,
what are your actions?
11. Heavy Weather

- You are on the bridge and about to leave port, but you receive a
weather forecast indicating that heavy weather lies ahead, what are
your actions?
- What is a watertight door?
- What is a weathertight door?
2
12. Bridge Team Management
- What do you understand by the concept ʻBridge Team
Managementʼ?
- Where would find information regarding Bridge Team
Management?
- What is the Safety Management System?
13. Fire-fighting Regulations

- What fire-fighting equipment did your last vessel have onboard?
- What are regulations and carriage requirements regarding each
piece of equipment you just mentioned?
- How many fire-extinguisher spares should a cargo vessel carry?
- Where would you find more information on fire-fighting equipment?
- How many fire extinguishers should there be in the engine room?
- What type of fire extinguishers would you expect to find in the
engine room?
14. CO2 Fixed Installations

- How would you tackle a fire in a cargo hold?
- The master has instructed you to test the CO2 system for the cargo
holds, how would go about this job?
- I mentioned all the checks I would make inside the hold and in the
CO2 room, including precautions that should be taken and how to
test such a system (i.e. main direction valve, pilot hoses, alarms
etc).
15. Fire
- There is a fire in the galley, what are your actions (as OOW)?
- What extinguishing agents would you expect to find in the galley?
16. Tides
- What are spring tides?
- What causes spring tides?
- Where would you find information on spring tides?
- How would you know if you were experiencing a spring tide?
17. On-load and Off-load Hook Release Mechanisms

- What is an off-load hook release mechanism?
- What is an on-load hook release mechanism?
- Can you explain the engineering behind an on-load hook release
mechanism?
- How does the safety interlock work?
18. Traffic Separation Schemes

- Captain Hills created a TSS and placed me on a power-driven
vessel following one of the lanes. He then asked me what my
actions would be during the following situations (risk of collision
existed in each case):
3
- Sailing vessel crossing from port
- Power-driven vessel crossing from port
19. Fog Signals

- What vessels make the fog signal: one prolonged blast followed by
two short blasts?
- At what intervals?
20. Lights and Collision Avoidance in Open Sea

- Captain Hills gave me a couple of collision avoidance situations and
asked me what my actions would be in each case. In each case I
was on a power-driven vessel in open sea, where risk of collision
exists:
- Nighttime: Lights for a power-driven engaged in towing on my port

side, what do these lights indicate? What are your actions?
- Daytime: Power-driven vessel constrained by her draught on my

port side? What is its day shape? What are the dimensions of the
day shape? At what distance would this day shape be visible? What
action would you take? I mentioned rule 18 and told Captain Hills
about rule 8 part (f) and then informed him of my action.
- I got the visibility of the day shape wrong, so Captain Hills then
asked me about the range of visibility of the all the lights.
- Daytime: A sailing vessel was placed 30 degrees abaft my beam on

the starboard side. Wind was blowing on the starboard bow. What
are your actions?
The sailing vessel is moving closer to you, what are your actions?
Captain Hills then moved the sailing vessel forward and positioned
it on my starboard beam, currently passing a safe distance. He then
said that the wind had changed direction and was now blowing from
directly abeam on my starboard side. What are your actions?
The sailing vessel is moving closer again, what are your actions?
21. Collision Regulations - Rule 2

- Lastly, Captain Hills asked me what was contained within Rule 2.
This was the one rule I couldnʼt remember verbatim, so I just
informed him of the two key parts, the observance of good
seamanship and that it may be necessary to depart from the rules
under certain circumstances. To show that I knew what the rule
meant I gave him an example of when rule 2 could apply. He then
explained the implications of rule 2 and told me the wording
contained within the rule.
4
The above is pretty much the whole exam from what I can remember, in total
it took about 50 minutes.

OOW Oral - July 2011

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OOW Oral - July 2011

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Candidate: Lee Bradfield

Exam: OOW Unlimited

1. Seafarers Hours of Work and Rest

2. Steering Gear Tests

10. Restricted Visibility

11. Heavy Weather

13. Fire-fighting Regulations

14. CO2 Fixed Installations

17. On-load and Off-load Hook Release Mechanisms

18. Traffic Separation Schemes

19. Fog Signals

20. Lights and Collision Avoidance in Open Sea

- Nighttime: Lights for a power-driven engaged in towing on my port

- Daytime: Power-driven vessel constrained by her draught on my

- Daytime: A sailing vessel was placed 30 degrees abaft my beam on

21. Collision Regulations - Rule 2

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