Patricia2020-09-29T15:11:21-07:00
Add Seattle REC to the list of 11 Regional Examination Centers open by September 14.
The SS American Mariner
Patricia2020-08-15T19:35:23-07:00In the 1950s, the US Maritime Administration commissioned several classes of single-screw break bulk cargo vessels. The SS American Mariner, technically a C4-S-1a vessel, is used in US Coast Guard examinations as the platform for various stability calculations. Originally these questions only appeared on Unlimited Master AGT and Unlimited Chief Mate AGT exams. Now they can be found on exams for Masters 500/1600 NC/Oceans, and Mates 500/1600/AGT NC and [...]
More RECs to Reopen (Add Houston, Honolulu, San Juan)
Patricia2020-08-18T16:11:38-07:00The National Maritime Center today announced both the Regional Examination Center in Juneau and the Ketchikan Monitoring Unit have reopened. Houston and Honolulu RECs and San Juan MU are now scheduled to reopen Monday August 24. The re-openings are contingent upon affected mariners adhering closing to COVID policies as described here.
Waiting to Test
Patricia2020-08-15T16:52:53-07:00While waiting (and waiting) for the Regional Examination Centers to open, mariners who've spent months learning and carefully stowing tons (long tons = 2240 lbs) of knowledge have begun to worry about the deleterious effects of neglect (contamination = dust). To help ventilate those holds crammed with information (hot to cold: ventilate bold, cold to hot: ventilate not), CNS is offering week-long refresher courses for both deck and engine [...]
Loading & Unloading Oil Cargoes: Calculations
Patricia2020-03-31T11:37:36-07:00Many of the Deck Examinations on the new "Q" tests contain two types of questions about loading and unloading oil cargoes. Both require calculation. The first asks for a quantity. The second wants to know the time and date of final loading. To determine the quantity of oil cargo loaded or discharged, remember two things. First, oil cargoes expand or contract depending upon temperature and second, "net" barrels are [...]
Elbow Room: Staying Within an Anchorage
Patricia2020-08-15T16:51:08-07:00You are arriving in port and are assigned to anchor in anchorage circle B-4. It has a diameter of 500 yards and your vessel's LOA is 484 feet. If you anchor in 8 fathoms at the center of the circle, what is the maximum number of shots of chain you can use and still remain in the circle? There are two ways to solve these kinds of problems. One [...]
Minimum Freeboard
Patricia2019-06-16T14:05:40-07:00At small angles of inclination, a vessel’s stability is indicated by her GM or metacentric height. But when a vessel encounters conditions that cause her to roll, heave, pitch, sway and yaw excessively, for example in heavy or rough seas, she needs reserve buoyancy to counter the effects of these forces. Reserve buoyancy is the volume of enclosed spaces above the waterline and is measured by freeboard. Generally, more [...]
QMED Endorsements for Engine Officers (No exam)
Patricia2019-01-05T21:28:20-08:00In Policy Letter 04-18, the Coast Guard clarifies a requirement that technically became effective March 24, 2014. Prior to that date, certain engineering officer endorsements allowed the holder to act as a Qualified Member of the Engine Department (QMED) even though the endorsement was not shown on the credential. Per Policy Letter 04-18, this is no longer the case. Because of this change, the Coast Guard is offering an opportunity to [...]
Radar Plotting Review
Patricia2018-10-13T12:23:14-07:00While the requirement for Radar Renewal may be going away for some mariners, it's not gone yet and for others, mariners with limited recent sea-time, Radar Renewal may continue to be required. Here is a link to a Radar Plotting Review just in case.
Bruce Sherman
Patricia2018-10-03T10:31:55-07:00The director of our Engineering Program is Bruce Sherman. A Northwest native, Bruce holds an unlimited horsepower Chief Engineers Motor License, and a 3rd Assistant Steam license. He is a graduate of Macalester College in landlocked Minnesota, and got his Engineers training at the MEBA’s Calhoon School in Baltimore. Bruce sailed for more than 30 years in all engine room licensed ratings. He was a plank holder on the M/V [...]
Towing Questions . . . and Answers
Patricia2018-09-25T15:02:09-07:00In response to the vast number of questions related to Towing Vessels — Subchapter M compliance, manning, etc. — the Coast Guard has created the Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise (TVNCOE) and TugSafe Central. The sites, which link to each other, answer every imaginable question pertaining to the safe and legal operation of these vessels. TugSafe Central includes an Inspected Towing Vessel Decision Aid capable of generating a custom requirement list for a [...]
Do You Still Need to Renew Your Radar?
Patricia2020-06-20T13:19:25-07:00Maybe not you. Effective July 22, 2019, the long anticipated changes to the Radar Renewal requirements were implemented. The changes announced in the Federal Register of June 7, 2019 had been only slightly modified from the original proposal of June 18, 2018 and are as follows: A mariner who serves in a relevant position on board a radar-equipped vessel for 1 year in the previous 5 years will no [...]
Whelps
Patricia2018-10-14T12:04:37-07:00It is hard to imagine the pleasure of drinking wine being diminished by not knowing the name of the indentation in the bottom of the wine bottle. And plenty of shoes have been successfully tied by people who do not know the name of the thingamajig at the end of a shoelace. It’s the same with ground tackle onboard ship. Anchors have been heaved, weighed, dragged, dredged, kedged, dropped underfoot [...]
ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival)
Patricia2018-10-13T23:51:17-07:00Near Coastal and Celestial examinations for deck licenses will often include an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) problem. The more interesting of this type are trans-Pacific crossing the International Date Line. The trick to these problems is not to think — not to think about the Date Line or the date or the direction of travel. Instead, translate all times (departure, elapsed and arrival) through Greenwich.For example: Here is a [...]
Get Smart, Go Astern
Patricia2018-10-13T23:45:42-07:00In a study published in Psychological Science (May 2009), Dutch researchers determined that “Backward locomotion appears to be a very powerful trigger to mobilize cognitive resources.” The Rules of the Road anticipated this conclusion in Rule 8 by advising that “if a vessel needs more time to avoid collision or assess the situation, she shall slacken her speed or take all way off by stopping or reversing her means [...]
Chart Projections
Patricia2018-10-04T20:02:10-07:00In 1849, Dr. Samuel Birley Rowbotham published the pamphlet “Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe” in which he asserted that the Earth is an enclosed plane, surrounded by the ice of Antarctica and (somehow) suspended over which are the stars, the Sun, the Moon and the planets. Nearly three hundred years later, the astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson found himself in a smackdown with Rowbotham soul-mate and rapper B.o.B., arguing that [...]
“Full and Down” Calculations
Patricia2018-10-04T20:16:22-07:00“Full and Down” describes the desirable but rare condition in which a vessel has all her cargo space filled and is loaded down to her Plimsoll marks. Achieving the state of “full and down” requires some arithmetic. The old examination bank of questions has three “full and down” problems, two of which require elementary algebra. The new examination bank has dropped two of these questions leaving only one relatively simple calculation problem. Before [...]
Calculating Board Feet
Patricia2018-09-30T12:11:56-07:00Occasionally it is necessary to calculate the number of board feet in a pile of lumber. The key to the problem is knowing that a board foot is 1′ (long) x 1′ (wide) x 1″ (high). In other words in every cubic foot of lumber (1′ x 1′ x 1′), there are 12 board feet; the cubic foot makes twelve 1-inch slices of wood. You are to load a consignment [...]
Marine Insurance & the Restraint of Rulers, Princes or People
Patricia2020-09-13T14:50:06-07:00Masters and Chief Mates are occasionally asked the following question: What is an example of the term "Restraint of Rulers, Princes, or Peoples" in a marine insurance policy? A. A prohibition from loading a cargo from a country's government interference B. Arrest of a vessel by legal authorities to satisfy claims through exercise of a maritime lien C. Damage caused by riot of the population of a port D. [...]