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Oral Report
Candidate: L.Scott
Date: 14th of July 2014
Location: Plymouth MCA Office
Examiner: Captain Steve Hills
Time: 13:00, duration: 1hour 30 minutes
Result: PASS
Introduction
For just under two months, I had been revising with course mates ? best method of revision in my honest opinion. I thought I would measure my heart rate just before going in ? 100 bpm - not very relaxed!
I arrived at the MCA office 20 minutes early and I started at 13:05. Captain Hills greeted me and asked me to take a seat. He requested to look at my Discharge book and my TRB ? he spent some time looking at the particulars of my last vessel. He asked a little about possible job opportunities after the exam and then slid across MGN 69 ? the orals exam syllabus. He asked if I was familiar with what was in the document ? which I was. He stated that he would be writing in a book and that it was just notes and not to take it as an indication of the exams progress.
Exam
? What are the limitations of ECDIS?
? What are the advantages of ECDIS?
? What are the requirements for a paperless bridge?
? Departing Port and you are to turn on/set up the radar, how would you do this?
? The radar performance monitor, what does that actually do? How do you know if it has achieved efficient standards?
My last radar was constructed in 2013 and the performance monitor just stated ?performance ok?, but Hills stated certain standards must be met.
? What are the limitations of ARPA?
After listing 5 reasons, I decided to play my strength by opening up another question - ?Would you like me to list the tolerances too?? ? He seemed surprised when I asked this and said that I could.
? What radar would you use in precipitation? Why?
? He then selected two rules and placed them parallel on the table with two bits of paper. On one piece was an arrow ? this was to indicate my heading (south). The other what the symbol for direction of buoyage ? he asked what this was. He them place a model ship in front of me.
Once he placed the first buoy in front of me, I asked if I could move around the table ? so I could see what I was doing if I was with the direction of buoyage ? he had no problem with this.
? Port hand special mark ? what could that be used for?
? Starboard hand lateral mark, region A
? Preferred channel to port, region B
? East cardinal ? I said the word top mark and he said pick one from these four.
There were no top marks for any of these buoys. He wants a full light description too.
? What is in the SOLAS training manual?
? You are in the South Atlantic and you receive a VHF undesignated DSC distress alert, actions? There is no position. What type of search pattern? What are the characteristics of that search pattern?
? How many life rafts did you have on your last vessel? What capacity and where were they located? Why would there be this capacity on one side? Why would you have life rafts at the bow? Why do the fwd life rafts not have a HRU?
? Rig the HRU. What is the length of the painter? Your vessel sinks, explain what happens to the life rafts?
? What types of rope can you get? I wasn?t expecting this.
? He placed a rope in front of me ? what type of rope is this? Is said manila.
? It was manila, where would you find manila on you vessel? ? Pilot ladder, embarkation ladders.
? Why would you find it there?
? What were your mooring lines made of?
? What in particular about that material is of great importance for mooring lines? It floats.
? Why is that important? The bow thruster and propeller during mooring.
? What can you tell me about Kevlar ropes?
? Captain Hill then lay out three rulers and stated that is was a TSS. He put one vessel in the lane ? you are on this vessel. He then placed four PDV around the TSS ? one ahead, one astern and two in the other lane. He then picked up a sailing vessel and placed it on my port side ? actions? Sailing vessel has past, what now? Wait until finally past and clear, get back to track? He is looking for inform the Master so he can report it.
? He then said I was open sea and a sailing vessel was 30 degrees abaft my stbd beam, he also gave me a wind direction ? actions? Range closing, actions? Still closing, actions? I quoted rule 13 again, rule 2 was waiting in case he said closing range again, but she altered. Same SV now on stbd bow, the wind direction changes and she is now crossing, what now? Last part of rule 13! She altered again and cleared the vessel.
? Smarty board: Vessel engaged in fishing, starboard bow, actions?
? Towing vessel, starboard bow, actions?
? What are the arcs of visibility and the visible range of the mastheads and the sidelights of that towing vessel?
? You are now entering restricted visibility, actions?
? What is safe speed?
? Captain Hills then lay a piece of rope on the table and said this is a fog bank. He stated which side was clear visibility and which side was fog. My vessel was placed outside the fog bank. He placed one vessel in restricted visibility on my starboard bow on a collision course AND another outside the fog bank (In sight) on my port side on a collision course. Both were at the same range. Actions? What is your fog signal? What distance would you be able to hear that for signal? Would you sound a manoeuvring signal?
? What is variation?
? What is deviation? How often is the deviation card changed?
? There is a fault with the gyro compass, it needs to be repaired. You are steering 178 (T), the variation is 5 W and the deviation is 3 E, what is the compass course to steer?
? What is the ISM code?
? What is the role of the DPA?
? He placed a copy of the ISM code in front of me opened at chapter 9 ? what is the difference between a hazard occurrence and a non-conformity?
? What is MARPOL? What are the annexes of MARPOL? What are the special areas in annex I?
Whilst I was answering the last question, he took my NOE and started to write on it. I thought it was a fail. He said congratulations, you have passed. Went briefly over a few questions and answers and highlighted that knowledge on ropes was of high importance. He described the procedure for sending the NOE, I shook his hand and left.
Advice
? Know your last ship. Hills asked me many questions which related to my last vessel ? specifically what she carried and the regulations.
? Adapt the exam. Some may not agree with this! If you see an opportunity to use your strengths and open up another question before he thinks of one, do it. It creates more confidence and gives him more evidence to pass you.
? Go through past orals reports, note all of the questions asked and make a word document with your perfected answers.
? Revise with another person. This will make sure your answer actually makes sense
? Use the m-notices. If the MCA are going to test you, you should have an answer which was used by the MCA! MGN 69, 315 and 369 are of great use.
? Like a certain lecturer at the University of Plymouth always mentions ? Learn the COLREGS! Hills has a copy of it in front of him and is always checking it.
? Take your time in answering the question. Say the answer over in your head briefly and then say it out loud
? If the examiner asked the question again, it means you either missed something out or you gave the wrong answer.
Candidate: L.Scott
Date: 14th of July 2014
Location: Plymouth MCA Office
Examiner: Captain Steve Hills
Time: 13:00, duration: 1hour 30 minutes
Result: PASS
Introduction
For just under two months, I had been revising with course mates ? best method of revision in my honest opinion. I thought I would measure my heart rate just before going in ? 100 bpm - not very relaxed!
I arrived at the MCA office 20 minutes early and I started at 13:05. Captain Hills greeted me and asked me to take a seat. He requested to look at my Discharge book and my TRB ? he spent some time looking at the particulars of my last vessel. He asked a little about possible job opportunities after the exam and then slid across MGN 69 ? the orals exam syllabus. He asked if I was familiar with what was in the document ? which I was. He stated that he would be writing in a book and that it was just notes and not to take it as an indication of the exams progress.
Exam
? What are the limitations of ECDIS?
? What are the advantages of ECDIS?
? What are the requirements for a paperless bridge?
? Departing Port and you are to turn on/set up the radar, how would you do this?
? The radar performance monitor, what does that actually do? How do you know if it has achieved efficient standards?
My last radar was constructed in 2013 and the performance monitor just stated ?performance ok?, but Hills stated certain standards must be met.
? What are the limitations of ARPA?
After listing 5 reasons, I decided to play my strength by opening up another question - ?Would you like me to list the tolerances too?? ? He seemed surprised when I asked this and said that I could.
? What radar would you use in precipitation? Why?
? He then selected two rules and placed them parallel on the table with two bits of paper. On one piece was an arrow ? this was to indicate my heading (south). The other what the symbol for direction of buoyage ? he asked what this was. He them place a model ship in front of me.
Once he placed the first buoy in front of me, I asked if I could move around the table ? so I could see what I was doing if I was with the direction of buoyage ? he had no problem with this.
? Port hand special mark ? what could that be used for?
? Starboard hand lateral mark, region A
? Preferred channel to port, region B
? East cardinal ? I said the word top mark and he said pick one from these four.
There were no top marks for any of these buoys. He wants a full light description too.
? What is in the SOLAS training manual?
? You are in the South Atlantic and you receive a VHF undesignated DSC distress alert, actions? There is no position. What type of search pattern? What are the characteristics of that search pattern?
? How many life rafts did you have on your last vessel? What capacity and where were they located? Why would there be this capacity on one side? Why would you have life rafts at the bow? Why do the fwd life rafts not have a HRU?
? Rig the HRU. What is the length of the painter? Your vessel sinks, explain what happens to the life rafts?
? What types of rope can you get? I wasn?t expecting this.
? He placed a rope in front of me ? what type of rope is this? Is said manila.
? It was manila, where would you find manila on you vessel? ? Pilot ladder, embarkation ladders.
? Why would you find it there?
? What were your mooring lines made of?
? What in particular about that material is of great importance for mooring lines? It floats.
? Why is that important? The bow thruster and propeller during mooring.
? What can you tell me about Kevlar ropes?
? Captain Hill then lay out three rulers and stated that is was a TSS. He put one vessel in the lane ? you are on this vessel. He then placed four PDV around the TSS ? one ahead, one astern and two in the other lane. He then picked up a sailing vessel and placed it on my port side ? actions? Sailing vessel has past, what now? Wait until finally past and clear, get back to track? He is looking for inform the Master so he can report it.
? He then said I was open sea and a sailing vessel was 30 degrees abaft my stbd beam, he also gave me a wind direction ? actions? Range closing, actions? Still closing, actions? I quoted rule 13 again, rule 2 was waiting in case he said closing range again, but she altered. Same SV now on stbd bow, the wind direction changes and she is now crossing, what now? Last part of rule 13! She altered again and cleared the vessel.
? Smarty board: Vessel engaged in fishing, starboard bow, actions?
? Towing vessel, starboard bow, actions?
? What are the arcs of visibility and the visible range of the mastheads and the sidelights of that towing vessel?
? You are now entering restricted visibility, actions?
? What is safe speed?
? Captain Hills then lay a piece of rope on the table and said this is a fog bank. He stated which side was clear visibility and which side was fog. My vessel was placed outside the fog bank. He placed one vessel in restricted visibility on my starboard bow on a collision course AND another outside the fog bank (In sight) on my port side on a collision course. Both were at the same range. Actions? What is your fog signal? What distance would you be able to hear that for signal? Would you sound a manoeuvring signal?
? What is variation?
? What is deviation? How often is the deviation card changed?
? There is a fault with the gyro compass, it needs to be repaired. You are steering 178 (T), the variation is 5 W and the deviation is 3 E, what is the compass course to steer?
? What is the ISM code?
? What is the role of the DPA?
? He placed a copy of the ISM code in front of me opened at chapter 9 ? what is the difference between a hazard occurrence and a non-conformity?
? What is MARPOL? What are the annexes of MARPOL? What are the special areas in annex I?
Whilst I was answering the last question, he took my NOE and started to write on it. I thought it was a fail. He said congratulations, you have passed. Went briefly over a few questions and answers and highlighted that knowledge on ropes was of high importance. He described the procedure for sending the NOE, I shook his hand and left.
Advice
? Know your last ship. Hills asked me many questions which related to my last vessel ? specifically what she carried and the regulations.
? Adapt the exam. Some may not agree with this! If you see an opportunity to use your strengths and open up another question before he thinks of one, do it. It creates more confidence and gives him more evidence to pass you.
? Go through past orals reports, note all of the questions asked and make a word document with your perfected answers.
? Revise with another person. This will make sure your answer actually makes sense
? Use the m-notices. If the MCA are going to test you, you should have an answer which was used by the MCA! MGN 69, 315 and 369 are of great use.
? Like a certain lecturer at the University of Plymouth always mentions ? Learn the COLREGS! Hills has a copy of it in front of him and is always checking it.
? Take your time in answering the question. Say the answer over in your head briefly and then say it out loud
? If the examiner asked the question again, it means you either missed something out or you gave the wrong answer.
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