For a long time, the oral syllabuses for Deck, Engineering and Electro-Technical officers were given in MGN 69. It’s entirely possible that this was the standard when you passed your last exam. Then, in 2021, the MCA replaced it with MIN 653. As is the case with all MINs, this one has an expiry date; May 2025. By then we can expect that the MCA will have finalised the syllabus in a new MGN. Till then, MIN 653 is what we have to work with.
You’ve passed at least two MCA deck officer oral exams before, so much of the following will be familiar to you. In addition, you’ll have a huge volume of seatime, some as 2nd Officer, ideally some as Chief Officer and possibly some as Master <3000GT. But it’s worth revisiting the syllabus, and how we learn.
First off, from the introduction to MIN 653:
1.2. The Examiner is expected to base the assessment on the competence and relate them to tasks, responsibilities and duties considered necessary for ship operations, safety of life at sea and the protection of the marine environment.
1.3. The oral exam can draw on any part of the syllabus.
This time, you are being examined to a higher level still. With that said, the examiner is not looking for perfection. They don’t need you to know exactly which MGN covers every topic, or to have every fact ready at the tip of your tongue. But they do want to see that you have a good handle on most aspects of navigation and that you know what is expected of you with regards to the legal and administrative side of the job. What they do want to see is:
You don’t bullshit them. Don’t even think about it, don’t even try. If you don’t know, admit that you don’t have that information to hand but tell them where you’d find it, who you’d ask and what you’d check.
You are ready to take a stand. If you are given a situation that seems unusually risky or dangerous, they are looking to see if you would put a stop to the work. A classic is to give a berthing scenario that would be dangerous, or extremely difficult, and to see if you request tugs or are willing to heave-to or go to anchor and await better conditions.
They want to see that you have firsthand experience of much of what you’re talking about. Yes, you have the seatime to go for your big ticket, but did you gain all of that seatime on a ferry from Dover to Calais? Have you been on a standby boat at the same rig in the North Sea for two years? Different jobs teach us different things. You know more than you think, and part of preparing for your exam is learning to verbalise what you already know.
With all of that said, on to the syllabus. Not reading all the way through the syllabus before an exam is not just failing to prepare; it’s preparing to fail. Have a read once through part 5 of MIN 653 (that’s pages 48-69), paying special attention to the ‘Standard of competence’ notes on page 48.
So, how to use this to direct your study? I would structure my studying and notes as follows:
One folder named after each Competence
One set of notes for each of the italicised ‘Knowledge, understanding and proficiency’ titles
Subheadings within your notes on each of the non-italicised ‘Knowledge, understanding and proficiency’ titles
Go through your notes for the above, ensuring that they cover everything mentioned in the ‘Criteria for evaluating competence’ and ‘Further guidance for evaluating competence’ columns.
What should I prioritise?
You’ve done MCA oral exams before so you are likely aware of this, but it does bear repeating. Some subjects do deserve special mention. An examiner is unlikely to fail you if you get a meteorology question wrong. However, if you get a COLREGS, IALA buoyage or enclosed space entry question wrong, that’s a different story. Some things you will need to know inside-out and you should devote a lot of your time to making sure that you are 100% on these. Other subjects, while deserving of your time, are not quite as critical.
How to study?
As to how to study, everyone is different. The only thing that seems common to everyone, is time. You need to put in the time. Maybe some people with 140 IQ and perfect memory don’t need to put in the time, but I’m not one of those people and neither are you. Nobody is born able to play grade 8 piano; nobody is born able to paint the Mona Lisa. So sit down, get rid of all distractions, and get ready to work. You’ve passed these exams before, and think of the experience you’ve gained since then. Don’t get complacent, though; while some candidates describe their MM oral exam as being more like a fireside chat, that’s probably because they were very well prepared and the examiner allowed them to feel that way. If they find a gap in your knowledge, or they think you’re unsafe, you’ll get grilled.
You will need a computer with access to the internet, pads of lined paper, several ring-binder folders, pens (and highlighters) and some index cards, all readily available from any good stationers. Additionally, I would recommend having a simple wristwatch with an alarm. Don’t use a timer as you’ll just keep checking it and don’t use your phone as this will distract you, so leave that in another room. Set an alarm for 45 minutes from when you sit down, or however long you think your attention span is. Then sit down and study and don’t stop studying until your alarm goes. It really is that simple. The have a break, a mug of tea, go for a walk, come back and do it again. Don’t feel guilty about doing normal things when you should be studying; you still need to eat, and going to the gym or for a run will help you focus. If you wake up early and study in the morning, great. Personally, I wake up around 10am, do only an hour of study before lunch at 1300, go to the gym or for a run, have.a shower, then I become productive at around 1600 and keep going, on and off, in 45 minute chunks until 1am, when I fall asleep.
Another thing I would mention is that the way people learn does seem to be a bit like making a path in the woods. You struggle through the thick forest with your machete, hacking a path as you go. If you never go back that way, it’ll soon be overgrown. Studies have shown that we remember maybe 60% of what we learn if we don’t revisit it soon, so I urge you to revisit your days learning. Set aside maybe an hour and a half at the end of the day for this, and go through the notes you made earlier in the day, tidying them up, highlighting important passages, and making notes on any related things that you should look up tomorrow. Then get a night of good-quality sleep, wake up refreshed the next day and do it again.
OK, I think I understand…could you give me an example, though?
Sure. Turn to page 67 of MIN 653. Today, among other things, you’ve chosen to study the competence entitled ‘Use of leadership and managerial skill’. You read through the columns and make a list of things you want to know more about. Part of that list will look something like:
A knowledge of related international maritime conventions and recommendations, and national legislation
MLC, STCW hours of test, differences from minimums and UK legislation (think young seafarers)
Hours of rest records
Posting of watch bills, sufficient crew on deck for operations, getting crew inducted, issued with PPE, trained and signed off as competent
Disciplinary procedures, the MN code of conduct, company policies
And so on. You get the idea. Don’t ignore anything mentioned in the MIN; even a thirty minute delve into something that you don’t think will be important will give you an idea of what it involves, and the vocabulary to answer that question when it comes up. If you’ve at college you will have notes from class; these are a great starting point. If you’re using an online system instead of or in addition to college classes, going through the lectures for a subject, taking notes then expanding on these notes is an excellent way to learn. I studied for my Master Mariner exam while on leave and while at work; this worked for me, but do what works for you.
Get a big pad of blank paper and draw spider diagrams if that helps you visualise the way each subject relates to a bunch of other subjects. Think back to your practical experience; did the pilot give hand signals when they said port and starboard? How did the person at the helm acknowledge an order, and how did they tell the pilot that they had carried out that order? Where was the Captain at that time and what were they doing? When the pilot boat asked for a lee, what did the captain do? How can you prove to surveyors that you follow a PMS, that you have a robust PTW system and that your crew are within their hours of rest? If you have been through a flag state/port state inspection, or a drydock, so much so the better. Read reports from previous candidates and practice answering those questions for yourself.
As to how to use Cadet 2 Master, you’ve already started. . What I would recommend is reading through each article as you are studying that subject. For example, today in college/in your online course you had lectures on Survey and Certification that covered the ACS and the EAS and the HSSC. So, later in the day, go through the Cadet 2 Master notes on these subjects. Read through the article, then formulate answers to the questions at the end. If you don’t know the answer to a question, read through that section again. I call these questions MCAQs; many of them appear in the orals reports of previous candidates, often more than once. Questions on the ACS, for example, are extremely common. I like to imagine an older gent with a beard asking ‘Well Mr Taylor, how would you know whether your ship is on the ACS?’ and then practice giving a slick, comprehensive answer.
Prioritise the things you’ll likely be asked as a Masters candidate. They know that you know about AIS and NAVTEX; they may ask what you’d write in your standing orders, what entries you’d make in the OLD, or what instructions you’d give to a new 2/O with regards to a passage plan from Scotland to the Caribbean. Start with the ‘big picture’ part of the answer (‘The first thing I’d do is check whether our Safe Manning Document allows this, as that is a significant departure from our normal trade…’) then work down to the details (‘I’d have the 2/O put a note on the chart and in the passage plan that we are now entering an IALA B area and ensure that every officer and lookout is aware of this’).
This is a long article, but if you’re going to spend your time learning it’s good to spend that time effectively. Mankind has an infinite appetite for distraction. I’m bad for scrolling news websites, Facebook and the like; you will have your own things that you’d far rather be doing than studying. You’ve got your Chief Officer ticket already, you’ve got the seatime under your belt and now you’re ready to take the big ticket, the one that seemed a million years off when you were a cadet. You’ve done the work, you’ll do the studying and you’ll pass.