Marpol

[Mantaforce]

With regards to being asked about MARPOL in my oral exam, do i need to go through the whole thing and know all the individual regulations or will I just need to tell the examiner what the 6 annexes are, special areas etc?

Thanks

[alistairuk]

It very much depends on what the examiner asks you and how much he likes your answer!

Knowing the annexs an what the various special areas are would be a minimum to know - I was asked about discharge rates for sewage (although he was happy when I told him our minimum speeds for discharging - no idea what the actual rate was at the time)

You should probably know the basics of each annex especially how they applied specifically to the ships you were on

[martynatsea]

As said above it all depends on how the examiner phrases the question and because you won't know that until he spiels it out you have to go in prepared for anything!! Such is the lottery that is the oral exam that you just never know what/when/if they will ask you about a particular subject. I was lucky to not get asked about MARPOL at all in my OOW exam, thats not to say of course that I wasn't prepared for it. Conversely in my Mates exam it was covered in some detail specific to the cruise ships that I work on, so that is also good advice to make sure as a minimum that you understand how it applies to your vessels.

Also, consult the syllabus, I know plenty of people who barely gave it a second glance preferring to follow preparatory textbooks or orals classes. At OOW level it simply states "precautions to be taken to prevent pollution....as required by MARPOL including restricted areas and the disposal of marine pollutants" and a "basic understanding of SOPEP, Garbage Management Plan and anti-pollution equipment." It might seem vague but when you break it down there is only so much they can ask when you compare it to the syllabuses for Mates and Masters.

[Mantaforce]

Thank you both for your answers.

With regards to discussing how the annexes relate to the vessels I was on, and this may be a shot in the dark, does anyone has an electronic copy of MARPOL they could send me?

Many thanks

[size4riggerboots]

I don't have a copy any more I'm afraid, however make sure you are fully conversant with MIN 444 MARPOL - Forthcoming Amendments to MARPOL Annex IV - Sewage and MARPOL Annex V Garbage which came into force on Jan 1st this year. You can download it from the MCA website. You can also sign up to get email updates of all new M-notices which I would highly recommend!

[size4riggerboots]

I also recommend http://mnoticefinder.com/ for looking up old m-notices!

[Mantaforce]

I did my cadetship in the North Sea on standby vessels. Am I right in thinking that Annexes 2 and 3 would not ordinarily apply to a standby ship? And that he would be expecting me to talk about keeping the Oil Record Book and Garbage Record Book/Garbage Management Plan etc?

Thanks

[Clanky]

Just because you have not sailed on ships to which certain annexes apply does not exempt you from needing to know about them, same applies to cargo handling etc.

While they normally ask you about the ships that you have been on it is possible that they can ask you general questions applicable to the types of ship that you will be qualified to sail on should they give you that nice little piece of paper.

While it is unlikely that the examiner would expect you to know specifics about annexes 2 and 3 he / she may well expect you to have an overview of them (at this point I should hold my hand up and say that after 20 years at sea, I have just had to go and google annex III)

[size4riggerboots]

You're expected to know about all the MARPOL annexes- basic contents. But the most important for you will be 1, 4 and 5. And definitely make sure you know about the ORB and Garbage management plan!!

However: NEVER assume that because you weren't on, for example, a cargo ship, that you won't be asked about cargo.... Have you had a flick through the BC code and the IMDG code?

[Mantaforce]

Also, consult the syllabus, I know plenty of people who barely gave it a second glance preferring to follow preparatory textbooks or orals classes. At OOW level it simply states "precautions to be taken to prevent pollution....as required by MARPOL including restricted areas and the disposal of marine pollutants".

Am I right in thinking that in the syllabus 'restricted areas' relates to special areas?

[Mantaforce]

I'm sorry to keep going on about this, but I think I'm just working myself up so much here that I can't get my head around this. Say for example I go into the exam and he asks me about Annex 1, does he want me to say that it contains within it, regulations to prevent pollution by Oil and then go on to start rhyming off regulations?