Master Code <200 oral questions
Example questions for each part of the MCA's Master (Code vessels <200 GT) / OOW (Yachts <500 GT) oral syllabus. They are our wording, not the MCA's — the examiner works from the syllabus, so use these to find the gaps, then answer them out loud.
No — they are our examples. What the MCA publishes is the syllabus, on GOV.UK with the other yacht deck oral syllabuses, and every set below is our own wording of how one syllabus item can be asked. The syllabus is the authority; check it for the full list.
Two parts. Navigational Safety: passage planning with chartwork and position fixing, meteorology, keeping a safe navigational watch, and the COLREGs. Then Response to Emergencies, Operational Safety and Pollution Control: distress signals and communications, manoeuvring, emergencies, pollution prevention, seaworthiness, and business and law.
Several items in section 1.1 are practical chartwork — fixing the position, finding the magnetic course to steer and an ETA, and working tides for standard and secondary ports — so have the method as well as the answer.
MIN 690 Amendment 6 splits this exam into Part A, an online computer-based proctored exam, and Part B, the online oral with an examiner. With an NOE issued from 2 April 2024 you must pass Part A before you can book Part B.
Part A has 15 questions: three each on the Collision Regulations, IALA buoyage and navigational procedures, and six from the rest of the syllabus. MIN 690 says questions in both parts may be drawn from any part of the syllabus. The questions below are written the way an examiner might ask them out loud in Part B; the pass marks are on our Master (Code <200 GT) guide.
Out loud, as if the examiner had just asked, and push yourself with the follow-up: 'and then what?', 'why that rule?'. For the chartwork items, work them on a real chart with the tide tables open, then explain each step as you go.
“Plan a passage into a harbour you know. Which publications do you use, and what goes on the chart?”
“Convert this true course to a compass course. What causes variation and deviation?”
“Fix our position from these magnetic bearings and give it as latitude and longitude.”
“From here, at this log speed, what is the magnetic course to steer and our ETA?”
“Which transit or clearing line keeps you off that danger on the way into the anchorage?”
“What does this chart symbol mean, and why does it matter to you?”
“How do you correct your charts from the weekly Notices to Mariners?”
“You check the position and find you are off track. What do you do?”
“What is the height of tide at this secondary port at a given time?”
“What set and rate would you expect here, from the tidal diamond and from the tidal stream atlas?”
“What changes when you go from IALA region A to region B?”
“What are the limitations and errors of your chart plotter?”
“How would you plot a radar target to find how close it will pass?”
“Where do you get forecasts before you sail and once you are at sea?”
“What weather would you expect as a depression passes over you?”
“The barometer is falling fast. What does it tell you, and what do you do?”
“What do you check before you take over the watch, and what do you hand over?”
“When would you call the master to the bridge?”
“How do you keep a watch at anchor?”
“How and when do you change from autopilot to hand steering?”
“What does Navtex give you, and what goes in the log on your watch?”
The syllabus asks for a thorough knowledge of the ColRegs, and lists what it expects you to recognise and do:
“What decides a safe speed, and what makes a proper lookout?”
“How do you tell whether risk of collision exists with a vessel on your bow?”
“At night you see these lights ahead. What is it, and what is it doing?”
“You hear two short blasts from a ship ahead. What does it mean?”
“In restricted visibility you detect a vessel by radar alone, forward of the beam and closing. What do you do?”
“You need to cross a traffic separation scheme. How do you do it?”
“What are your obligations in a narrow channel, and what changes if your vessel is under 20 metres?”
“When may you use a distress signal, and what are your obligations if you see one?”
“What is the difference between a Mayday, a Pan-Pan and a Sécurité?”
“How do you use flares safely, and when would you use each kind?”
“How do an EPIRB and a SART work, and when would you activate them?”
“Talk me through coming alongside with the wind blowing you off.”
“How does the propeller affect the steering when you go astern?”
“The steering fails. What do you do?”
“Talk me through anchoring, from preparation to brought up.”
“What precautions do you take using the windlass and when mooring?”
“Man overboard. What are your first actions?”
“You have run aground. What do you do, in order?”
“Fire in the engine space. How do you shut down and isolate it?”
“How should a liferaft's hydrostatic release unit be rigged?”
“What are the basic principles of survival once you are in the liferaft?”
“What precautions do you take before bunkering, and what do you do if oil spills on deck?”
“How do you manage garbage and oil residue on board?”
“What are the warning signs of poor stability?”
“What happens to stability when you raise a weight, or lower one?”
“Why do low freeboard, blocked freeing ports and slack tanks matter?”
“How do you prepare the vessel for heavy weather?”
The syllabus names the 'Small Vessels Commercial Code' and the Large Commercial Yacht Code (LY3), each 'or any subsequent amendment'. MSN 1858 Amendment 2 now describes commercial yachts of 24 metres and over as 'covered by the Red Ensign Group’s Yacht Code', so know the code your own vessel actually operates under.
“Which code does your vessel operate under, and what does it require of you?”
“What is the Code of Safe Working Practices, and how do you use it on board?”
“Which musters and drills must you hold?”
“What is your legal obligation to keep the vessel seaworthy?”
“What is salvage, in law?”
“What are the rules on safe manning and hours of work?”
“When does a vessel need a crew agreement?”
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