Deck · Master · STCW II/2 · Concept refresher

Chapter briefs for Master.

Eleven topics at command level: the decisions that are yours alone, the law behind them, the mistakes that cost marks, and a recall list to run through before you sit.

CertificateMaster · STCW II/2
Topics11 chapter briefs
Read time≈ 6 min each
01 Command 02 Stability 03 Cargo & claims 04 Ship handling 05 Commercial 06 Conventions 07 Safety & audit 08 Emergency command 09 Crew & MLC 10 Environment 11 Orals
02 / 11Approval & limits

Stability, Strength & Loading

The master approves the loading condition. That signature carries the intact criteria, the damage case, the hull girder limits and whatever the cargo does to all three.

What the paper asks

Approval of a loading condition; intact and damage stability criteria; grain stability; heavy lift and the effect of a suspended weight; longitudinal strength limits; and the stability information booklet.

The concepts, in order

A condition is approved against several criteria at once. Intact criteria from the IS Code, any damage case the ship is subject to, the hull girder still water limits, tank top and deck loading, and the trim and draught the port allows. Failing any one of them fails the condition.

A suspended weight acts at the derrick head. The instant a heavy lift leaves the deck its centre of gravity rises to the point of suspension, so GM drops sharply and the ship lists. Calculating the condition at the moment of lift, not after it is landed, is the examinable point.

Grain has its own code. Heeling moments from shifting grain surfaces are tabulated, and the ship must satisfy an initial GM, an angle of heel limit and a residual area requirement. Untrimmed ends and partly filled compartments are what generate the moments.

The loading instrument is approved and its limits are class conditions. They apply in harbour and at sea, and at every intermediate stage of loading and ballasting — not merely on completion.

Where marks are lost

  • Checking only the final condition. Intermediate stages routinely govern.
  • Forgetting the rise of G during a heavy lift.
  • Treating grain heeling moments as optional for a partly filled hold.
  • Approving a condition without the arrival case. Consumables burn off from the bottom.
60-second recall
  1. Intact, damage, strength, deck loading — all at once.
  2. A suspended weight acts at the derrick head.
  3. Grain: GM, heel angle and residual area.
  4. Every stage, not just the final condition.
  5. Departure and arrival both.
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03 / 11Documents & liability

Cargo Operations & Claims

Cargo generates the revenue and most of the litigation. The master's signature on the documents is where liability attaches.

What the paper asks

Bills of lading and their function; clausing and letters of indemnity; mate's receipts; cargo claims and their prevention; draught surveys; tanker and bulk documentation; and the P&I club's role.

The concepts, in order

A bill of lading does three things — receipt for the goods, evidence of the contract of carriage, and document of title. Signing a clean bill for cargo that is visibly damaged makes the carrier liable for damage that was already there.

Never accept a letter of indemnity for a clean bill on damaged cargo. It is unenforceable in most jurisdictions because it is an indemnity against a fraud, and the P&I club will decline cover. The correct action is to clause the bill to reflect the apparent condition.

Claims are prevented at loading, not defended at discharge. Mate's receipts clausing the true condition, photographs, ullage and draught survey records, and hatch cover test certificates are the evidence that decides a claim years later.

The P&I club is the master's ally. Notify early, request a surveyor where appropriate, and follow their instructions. A claim handled properly from hour one costs a fraction of one discovered at the discharge port.

Where marks are lost

  • Signing a clean bill against a letter of indemnity.
  • Allowing the agent to sign bills without the master's authority and knowledge.
  • Discharging without a joint survey when damage is apparent.
  • Losing the loading evidence. Photographs and receipts are the case.
60-second recall
  1. Bill of lading: receipt, contract evidence, document of title.
  2. Clause the bill; refuse the letter of indemnity.
  3. Claims are won by loading-port evidence.
  4. Notify the P&I club early.
  5. Photograph everything.
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04 / 11Emergency manoeuvres

Advanced Ship Handling

Handling the ship when the situation has stopped being routine — losing an engine in a channel, anchoring in extremis, or berthing without a tug that failed to arrive.

What the paper asks

Emergency manoeuvres; anchoring in emergency and use of the anchor as a brake; handling with a tug failure; berthing without tugs; heavy weather and parametric rolling; man overboard at management level; and constrained-water pilotage decisions.

The concepts, in order

Emergency anchoring is a controlled use of damage. Walking back the anchor under power, using a short scope deliberately to slow the ship, and accepting that the cable or windlass may be lost — but the ship is not. The decision is time-critical and the master's alone.

Parametric rolling is a stability phenomenon, not a seamanship failure. In head or following seas with a wave length near the ship's length and an encounter period near half the roll period, the changing waterplane pumps energy into the roll. The cure is to change speed or heading and break the coincidence.

Loss of propulsion in confined water is a sequence. Inform the bridge team and VTS, use the remaining way to steer, prepare anchors, call tugs, and warn other traffic. The engineers diagnose while the bridge buys sea room — those are separate jobs done in parallel.

Handling without tugs is a planning problem, not a heroics problem. Wind and current on the beam, mooring line sequence, the pivot point and available thrusters all decide whether it is feasible. The honest answer is often to wait.

Where marks are lost

  • Treating parametric rolling as bad steering. It is a resonance.
  • Dropping the anchor at speed. The cable parts and the anchor is lost with no benefit.
  • Diagnosing a machinery failure from the bridge. Buy sea room, let the engineers work.
  • Berthing in conditions beyond the ship's capability because the schedule demands it.
60-second recall
  1. Sea room first, diagnosis second.
  2. Parametric rolling: change speed or heading.
  3. Emergency anchoring is deliberate, controlled damage.
  4. Squat and interaction grow with speed — slow down.
  5. Waiting is a legitimate decision.
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05 / 11Charterparty

Voyage & Commercial Management

The master is the owner's representative on the spot. Laytime, notices and protests are decided by what is done and recorded in the first hours in port.

What the paper asks

Charterparty types and their consequences; notice of readiness and laytime; statement of facts and time sheets; demurrage and despatch; bunkering commercially and legally; agency; and the master's authority to commit the owner.

The concepts, in order

Charterparty type decides who pays for what. A voyage charter puts the voyage cost on the owner and buys the charterer a cargo movement; a time charter hires the ship and its crew, with the charterer paying bunkers and port costs; a bareboat charter hands over the ship itself.

Notice of readiness starts the clock — if it is valid. The ship must be arrived, ready in all respects, and the notice tendered as the charterparty requires. An invalid NOR that is not re-tendered can cost the owner days of laytime.

Laytime is counted from the statement of facts. Every interruption — weather, shifting, breakdown, waiting for the berth — is either on the owner's time or the charterer's depending on the clauses. The master's record is what the calculation is built from.

Bunkers are quantity and quality. Ship's soundings corrected for trim, list, temperature and density are the ship's position, not the barge's figures; the MARPOL sample governs a quality dispute; and a letter of protest issued at the time is worth more than any argument later.

Where marks are lost

  • Tendering NOR before the ship is ready in all respects.
  • Signing the statement of facts without reading it.
  • Accepting the barge figure for bunkers.
  • Committing the owner beyond the master's authority. Consult the company.
60-second recall
  1. Voyage, time, bareboat — different cost allocation.
  2. NOR must be arrived, ready, and properly tendered.
  3. The statement of facts builds the laytime calculation.
  4. Ship's corrected soundings, and the MARPOL sample.
  5. Letter of protest at the time, not afterwards.
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06 / 11Flag & international

International Conventions & Flag State

Which body made the rule, who enforces it, and what happens to the ship and the master when it is broken.

What the paper asks

IMO structure and how conventions enter force; SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW, MLC, Load Line and Tonnage; UNCLOS zones and jurisdiction; salvage and limitation of liability; and the ship's certificates and their issuing authority.

The concepts, in order

IMO makes conventions; states enforce them. A convention binds a ship through the flag state that ratified it, and is enforced against visiting ships by port states. The IMO itself has no enforcement arm — a distinction examiners test directly.

UNCLOS sets the zones. Territorial sea to 12 miles with innocent passage, contiguous zone to 24, exclusive economic zone to 200 for resources, and the high seas beyond — where flag state jurisdiction is effectively exclusive.

Salvage and limitation are commercial law. Salvage rewards a successful service to property in danger; general average shares an intentional sacrifice for the common good among all interests. Limitation of liability caps the shipowner's exposure by tonnage, and can be broken by the owner's personal fault.

Certificates trace back to a survey and an authority. The flag issues, often through a recognised organisation. Knowing which certificate answers which convention is the fastest way through this topic.

Where marks are lost

  • Saying the IMO inspects or detains ships. It does not.
  • Confusing general average with salvage.
  • Treating the EEZ as territorial sea. Navigation rights differ entirely.
  • Assuming limitation is automatic. It must be claimed, and it can be broken.
60-second recall
  1. IMO legislates; flag and port states enforce.
  2. 12 / 24 / 200 miles — territorial, contiguous, EEZ.
  3. Salvage rewards success; general average shares sacrifice.
  4. Limitation is by tonnage and can be broken.
  5. Every certificate has a convention behind it.
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07 / 11ISM in practice

Safety Management & Auditing

Running the system rather than being run by it: internal audits that find things, corrective action that addresses causes, and records that stand up.

What the paper asks

ISM implementation on board; internal and external audits; non-conformities, major non-conformities and observations; root cause analysis; risk assessment; permit to work; and preparing for a port state control inspection.

The concepts, in order

An internal audit that finds nothing has failed. The purpose is to find weaknesses before an external auditor or an accident does. A pattern of clean internal audits followed by external findings is itself evidence that the system is not working.

Corrective action must address the cause. Retraining the individual who made an error is rarely a corrective action; changing the procedure, the tool or the workload that made the error likely is. Auditors test whether the action would prevent recurrence.

Risk assessment follows the hierarchy of control. Eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, then protect. An assessment whose only control is personal protective equipment has stopped at the weakest step.

Port state control preparation is continuous. Certificates valid and matching, records contemporaneous, equipment tested with certificates aboard, and the crew able to demonstrate the drills they say they have done.

Where marks are lost

  • Closing a non-conformity by retraining alone.
  • Auditing to prove compliance rather than to find weakness.
  • A risk assessment written after the job.
  • Producing records that do not match the equipment.
60-second recall
  1. Audits are meant to find things.
  2. Corrective action addresses the cause, not the person.
  3. Eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, protect.
  4. Major non-conformity: serious threat, immediate action.
  5. Records and reality must agree.
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08 / 11Under pressure

Emergency Command

Command in an emergency is deciding what matters first, delegating the rest, and keeping a record while doing it.

What the paper asks

Collision, grounding, flooding, fire and abandon ship at command level; damage assessment; communications with authorities and the company; media and next of kin; preservation of evidence; and post-incident reporting.

The concepts, in order

The first minutes set the outcome. Sound the alarm, account for people, stop what is making it worse, assess before acting on the ship itself, and inform — the master's job is to hold that sequence while others do the work.

Assessment precedes action after structural damage. After a grounding or collision, sounding round and calculating residual stability and strength comes before any engine movement. Ships have been lost by being pulled off the ground they were resting on.

Communications are a workstream of their own. Distress or urgency traffic, the company and DPA, the flag and coastal state, class, P&I, charterers and the agent — with someone delegated to keep the log so the timeline survives.

Evidence matters later. VDR data must be preserved before it is overwritten, photographs taken, charts and records secured, and the sequence written down while it is fresh. Investigations run on that record.

Where marks are lost

  • Going astern immediately after grounding.
  • Separating after a collision before assessing both ships.
  • Losing the VDR data. Preserve it deliberately and early.
  • Talking to the media without company advice.
60-second recall
  1. Alarm, account, contain, assess, inform.
  2. No engine movements until the damage is understood.
  3. Preserve the VDR before it overwrites.
  4. Delegate the log; keep the timeline.
  5. One voice to the outside world.
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09 / 11People

Crew Management, MLC & Leadership

A crew that will tell the master bad news early is worth more than any procedure. Everything in this topic serves that.

What the paper asks

MLC requirements on employment, hours of rest, accommodation and welfare; the on-board complaints procedure; discipline and dismissal; multicultural crews and working language; leadership and delegation; and fatigue management.

The concepts, in order

Hours of rest are a safety requirement. Minimum ten hours in any twenty-four and seventy-seven in any seven days, in no more than two periods with one of at least six hours. Planning a job that breaches them means planning it differently — not recording it differently.

The complaints procedure must be genuine. MLC requires an on-board procedure, the right to complain without victimisation, and the right to go to the flag state or a port state inspector. A ship where nobody complains is not necessarily a happy ship.

Discipline is a process. Establish the facts, hear the person, decide proportionately, record it, and follow the company procedure. Summary dismissal at sea creates more problems than it solves and is rarely defensible.

The working language must be understood by all. It is a SOLAS requirement, not a courtesy, and it exists so that an emergency order is obeyed rather than interpreted.

Where marks are lost

  • Adjusting rest hour records to fit the work.
  • Disciplining without hearing the person.
  • Assuming a quiet crew is a content crew.
  • Letting the working language slip in a mixed crew.
60-second recall
  1. 10 in 24, 77 in 7, two periods, one of six hours.
  2. Plan the job around rest, never the record.
  3. Complaints without victimisation; escalation to flag or port state.
  4. Discipline: facts, hearing, proportionality, record.
  5. One working language, understood by all.
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10 / 11MARPOL & carbon

Environmental Compliance

The area where a mistake becomes a criminal matter fastest, and where the record book is the evidence.

What the paper asks

MARPOL annexes and their principal limits; oil record book entries; garbage and sewage management; ballast water management and the D-2 standard; sulphur and NOx limits; EEXI and CII; and the consequences of a false entry.

The concepts, in order

Record books are legal documents. The oil record book, garbage record book and ballast water record book must be contemporaneous, complete and signed. Prosecutions in this field are almost always for false entries rather than for the discharge itself — the paperwork is the offence.

Discharge criteria have several conditions. Machinery space bilge water requires 15 ppm equipment in operation, the ship en route, and an automatic stopping device. Meeting one condition is not compliance.

Ballast water is now a treatment regime. The D-2 standard requires a type-approved treatment system; D-1 exchange was the transitional arrangement. Failures of the system must be recorded and reported rather than worked around.

Carbon intensity is operational and annual. EEXI is a technical index fixed for the ship; CII is calculated each year from fuel and distance and rated A to E, with a corrective action plan required after three consecutive D ratings or one E.

Where marks are lost

  • A discharge that meets 15 ppm but is made at anchor. En route is part of the requirement.
  • Confusing EEXI with CII. Technical and fixed versus operational and annual.
  • Leaving record book entries to the end of the week.
  • Bypassing a failed ballast treatment system. Record and report instead.
60-second recall
  1. 15 ppm, en route, equipment running, automatic stop.
  2. Annexes I–VI: oil, NLS, packaged, sewage, garbage, air.
  3. D-2 treatment standard for ballast water.
  4. Sulphur 0.50 % global, 0.10 % in ECAs.
  5. False entries are the offence that gets prosecuted.
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11 / 11The final gate

Master Orals & Scenarios

The examiner is deciding whether to let you take command. Every answer should cover the ship, the people, the law and the commercial consequence — and say why.

What the paper asks

Taking command; a serious casualty far from help; a port state inspection heading for detention; a crew fatality; a charterer's instruction you consider unsafe; and how you satisfy yourself that the ship is fit to sail.

The concepts, in order

Answer at command level. The chief mate's answer stops when the situation is safe. The master's continues: who is informed, what the flag and class need to know, what it costs, and what changes so it does not recur.

Taking command. Certificates and their expiry, outstanding conditions of class and defects, stability and loading condition, LSA and FFA status, crew certification and rest hours, charterparty and voyage instructions, and the ship's own peculiarities. Delivering that list calmly is a strong opening.

Refusing an unsafe instruction is a defined right. The master's overriding authority covers exactly this. Explain the reason, propose the alternative, inform the company and the DPA, and record it. Doing so is expected, not insubordinate.

Satisfy yourself with evidence. When asked how you would know something is fit, answer with the test, the record, the tolerance and who verified it — never “I would check it”.

Where marks are lost

  • Giving a chief mate's answer. Safe is where the answer starts.
  • Complying with a commercially convenient but unsafe instruction.
  • Answering “I would check it” with no standard named.
  • Folding on a correct answer when the examiner pushes.
60-second recall
  1. Ship, people, law, commercial — all four.
  2. Overriding authority: explain, propose, inform, record.
  3. Evidence: test, record, tolerance, verifier.
  4. Escalate early.
  5. Hold a sound answer under pressure.
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