Master 200/OOW 500 oral exam questions

[AndyLink]

Hi

My first post, been a lurker for a while, especially for posts regarding peoples Master 200 exam experiences so I thought I would give something back and post the questions I was asked in the order that I remember them not necessarily the order they were asked.

The examiner used the oral sylabus as a guide, started at the top working down, leaving the lights, sound signals, buoyage, colregs etc till near enough last.

Taken and passed first time at Great Yarmouth MRCC

Started off by asking who I worked for, what type of vessel, where was I working, my previous background etc

1. Asked how I would approach preparing a passage plan - APEM
2. What instruments do I have onboard my current vessel
3. What instrument do I consider to be the most import - Magnetic compass
4. How often should a compass be checked for errors
5. Sources of met info
6. What sources of met info did I use when working on my vessel
7. What principles should I take in to account regarding maintaining a nav watch at sea
8. When should the master be called to the bridge
9. What are the different types of distress signals - he stopped me part way through saying that was enough
10. What precautions are to be observed when using winches and windlass
11. What are my actions in a MOB situation on my current vessel
12. What are the basic principals of survival - liferaft
13. What is MARPOL
14. What does the LY2 code and SCV code contain
15. What is my understanding of salvage / and then towing
16. Who needs a crew agreement
17. What are the requirements for safe manning, hours of work and watchkeeping
18. What is COSWOP
19. Quite a few questions about stability, what is good and bad, what is list, whats the difference between list and loll, what is GZ, GM. How would I correct Loll. What's contained in a stability book, what is my current vessels crane limit.
20. A rough radar plot on the table, CPA, WOA etc - I got as far as showing the relative motion and how to find the CPA and started on the WOA triangle but he stopped me saying I obviously knew it and could I advise him what my action would be. Rule 19 etc
21. Whats the best way to set up a radar for collision detection
22. Table top ships, actions, sound signals etc including a vessel CBD on port bow, what are my actions - do not impede
23. What would be my actions if I was OOW and running in to restricted visibility
24. Lots of lights,(type, length, aspect, special circumstances, underway, making way) inc trawler shooting nets, fishing vessel gear extended 150m horizontally, CBD, RAM, NUC, sailing vessel showing additional lights, vessels at anchor, aground, mine clearance, underwater ops
25. Lots Days shapes - inc day shape for shooting nets - flag "ZULU", diameter of an achor ball for vessel over 20m - min 0.6m
26. Buoyage, all cardinal marks, Lateral, etc - type, meaning, lights, top marks etc he showed a lot of lateral region A in a row then slipped in a Region B for good measure
27. How do I dispose of dirty oil, general garbage, should I record the disposal

might have missed a few but thats most of them, hope it helps.

Andy

[Skippy John]

Congratulations Andy on passing your STCW 95 MCA Master <200gt;OOW <500gt Oral Examination on your first attempt.

From my experience you are one of probably less than 15% - 25% of people who don't do a preparation course that pass this oral exam first time.

To help all those who have decided to go straight for the exam without prep the syllabus is on page 29 of MSN 1802. you will see from the questions above and the syllabus there this exam covers a 'new world' when compared to the RYA Offshore or Ocean examinations.

[Khalid]

Andy, appreciate this post is old but I'm studying for my MCA 200gt and wondered if you could advise me how you answered the following;

Originally Posted by AndyLink

10. What precautions are to be observed when using winches and windlass
21. Whats the best way to set up a radar for collision detection

[Tim M]

I would have though something along the lines of:
10: snapback zones etc
11: relative vs true vector etc

[Matty75]

Originally Posted by Khalid

Andy, appreciate this post is old but I'm studying for my MCA 200gt and wondered if you could advise me how you answered the following;

10. Visual inspection before use - Mounting bed bolts secure, not corroded.
Brake/Brake lining in good condition and not worn.
Controls operable, including emergency stops.
If split-drum - no more than 1 layer.
Mooring rope inspected - broken strands, rot, UV damage, worn splices/eyes.
The mooring rope/line is appropriate for intended use.
Mooring rope is appropriate for winch - brake to render before mooring rope/line exceeds SWL.

Pretty much the same for Windlass, plus:
Bitter-end secure.
Guillotine not seized.
Anchor-wash available.
Check overside - nothing below anchor!!

11. Controls set accordingly - gain, rain, sea-clutter, auto or manual tune.
Ensure radar functioning adequately - Performance Monitor.
Correct range-scale in use.
Pulse Length - Long/Short.
Ground or Sea stabilised - correct aspect of vessel - V. important for anti-collision!
ARPA or manual. Note - radar display indicates only history, not what is happening in real time!

[adamwenn100]

Hi all,

I have seen this post and thought I would ask the questions on here before making another post about the same thing.

Has anyone recently taken the MCA Master 200 oral online (via zoom)? If so, how did the radar and chart plotting exercises work?

I am currently studying the syllabus and wondering if anyone has any good links for the information on stability? Or any links in fact?

Is there anyone on here a MCA Master 200 examiner? If so, do you want to PM me, see if you can do a mock oral for me, obviously paid.

Has anyone done a recent exam and remembers the questions you were asked? More questions I can look at, the better.

TIA.

[Tim M]

There's plenty of instructors and training centres out there that will do mock exams over Skype. Freds Oral prep is very popular (a friend of mine just passed his Master 3000 with Fred's help). Plenty of others. Likewise there's plenty of info out there if you search for it with example exam questions etc. I'd recommend doing a prep course (I did a 5 day at Searegs in Plymouth which I'd recommend) - invaluable for simply finding out all the stuff you need to know which you might have overlooked before. Most instructors seem to be master mariners with plenty of real world experience and anecdotes to regale you with. I believe most places are doing prep courses online now over Zoom etc so you can still benefit from the full experience.

[Chieftain Training]

Originally Posted by adamwenn100

Hi all,

I have seen this post and thought I would ask the questions on here before making another post about the same thing.

Has anyone recently taken the MCA Master 200 oral online (via zoom)? If so, how did the radar and chart plotting exercises work?

I am currently studying the syllabus and wondering if anyone has any good links for the information on stability? Or any links in fact?

Is there anyone on here a MCA Master 200 examiner? If so, do you want to PM me, see if you can do a mock oral for me, obviously paid.

Has anyone done a recent exam and remembers the questions you were asked? More questions I can look at, the better.

TIA.

Hi Adam

We have a 6 days pre course, followed by a 1:1 mock exam with the former MCA Chief Examiner. Details are at https://chieftain.training/mca-master-200-oow-500/

If the advertised dates don't suit talk to be about possible alternatives.

[Aquaplanning]

Originally Posted by adamwenn100

Hi all,

...

Has anyone recently taken the MCA Master 200 oral online (via zoom)? If so, how did the radar and chart plotting exercises work?

...

TIA.

Is the exam available via Zoom? That would be brilliant, any more information about this? Travelling from NL to UK is a bit complicated at the moment.

[Chieftain Training]

Originally Posted by Aquaplanning

Is the exam available via Zoom? That would be brilliant, any more information about this? Travelling from NL to UK is a bit complicated at the moment.

We use zoom for the mock exam and the MCA are using MS Teams for the actual exam. Obviously you need an NOE before they will book your exam

[Northseaguy]

As previously asked. How does the chart/ radar part work online? Are you asked to provide a specific chart/scale?

[Northseaguy]

Originally Posted by adamwenn100

Hi all,

I have seen this post and thought I would ask the questions on here before making another post about the same thing.

Has anyone recently taken the MCA Master 200 oral online (via zoom)? If so, how did the radar and chart plotting exercises work?

I am currently studying the syllabus and wondering if anyone has any good links for the information on stability? Or any links in fact?

Is there anyone on here a MCA Master 200 examiner? If so, do you want to PM me, see if you can do a mock oral for me, obviously paid.

Has anyone done a recent exam and remembers the questions you were asked? More questions I can look at, the better.

TIA.

Did you do your exam, and how did it go? I have asked a similar question regarding how the chart and radar exercises are done online. Any feedback would be great
Thanks

[Northseaguy]

So i received MIN690 yesterday and it now says the the master 200 exam is done it 2 parts. First a 40 minute online exam the the oral. Anyone sat the new online one yet?

[Chieftain Training]

Originally Posted by Northseaguy

So i received MIN690 yesterday and it now says the the master 200 exam is done it 2 parts. First a 40 minute online exam the the oral. Anyone sat the new online one yet?

They have done the same thing with OOW Unlimited, we had our first prep student go through the Part A section very recently, he said it was pretty tough. You have to score at least 90% on the IRPCS section, which i understand is the most common cause of failure.

[Northseaguy]

Do you think Part A is the same regardless of ticket level?
Any info you have on how the questions are presented ie. Are they multiple choice or written word answers. 40 mins for 15 questions requiring 90% pass rate on half the categories is sounding quite daunting.
90% on irpcs, Iala buoyage, 80% on nav procedures and 50% on the other 5 sections.

[Chieftain Training]

Originally Posted by Northseaguy

Do you think Part A is the same regardless of ticket level?
Any info you have on how the questions are presented ie. Are they multiple choice or written word answers. 40 mins for 15 questions requiring 90% pass rate on half the categories is sounding quite daunting.
90% on irpcs, Iala buoyage, 80% on nav procedures and 50% on the other 5 sections.

At this stage they have only included the requirement for 2 tickets (I assume they are the 2 with the most fails). Master 200 and OOW Unlimited. The Part A will be different for each of them but will have some similarities, in particular on IRPCS and Buoyage which are the 2 90% sections, each of them has 12 marks available.