I'm a qualified Officer of the Watch... again!

Exactly 7 years to the day since I passed my OOW "Nav Sea Week" in the Royal Navy, I have now passed my OOW (Unlimited) oral board in the Merchant Navy.

If you read my last article you might remember me saying I underestimated the work required to transition from Royal Navy to Merchant Navy. Well, once again I underestimated the work required to pass the OOW (Unlimited) oral board. Given that I have been a watch-keeping officer onboard a busy, operational Royal Navy Frigate; Captain of a patrol boat, and a navigation instructor at Britannia Royal Naval College, I had always thought "I don't need to worry about the oral board!".

I was wrong.

Studying for my oral board has been one of the most intense periods of study I've ever had to work through. The sheer breadth of knowledge required to be confident of a pass is overwhelming and a lot of the content is not what I have previously been required to know during my RN career. The oral board in the merchant navy is nothing like the assessment conducted for the OOW ticket in the RN. The RN equivalent is a week long assessment consisting of bridge simulator runs & written exams.

"If, however, I can PE but not PEE on my oral examiner, does that mean I don't understand the rules? "

The RN "Nav Sea Week" is far more comprehensive in terms of practical bridgemanship, navigation and response to bridge emergencies. On the other hand, the merchant navy oral board goes into much more depth with regards to the wider responsibilities of a Deck Officer including issues such as MARPOL, health & safety systems and security. The latter subjects are of course taught in various guises within the RN but there are no formal examinations on the subjects which candidates must pass in order to be eligible for their RN STCW II/1.

Image: First time at sea - onboard HMS Illustrious in the Norwegian Fjords

One particularly interesting comparison between the two systems is how the RN and MN deal with the assessment of a candidate's understanding of COLREGs. Whereas the RN still holds fast to verbatim written exams with 90% pass marks, the Merchant Navy explores the rules in great depth as part of the oral exam, during which candidates must react to situations whilst justifying their actions by referring to COLREGs.

My initial reaction to this difference is that learning the COLREGs verbatim is an antiquated method of learning and does not guarantee understanding. And yet, during my oral board I quoted about a dozen rules verbatim when explaining my actions. Now this might just be a hangover from the RN style of applying the rules but right before my oral board, I remembered my GCSE English teacher telling me to "PEE all over my exam paper". I realised that a sensible way to approach answering a question on a shipping situation would be to use a Point, Explanation, Evidence model. I've switched the Es around, but that's fine.

For example: "I would sound one short blast and make a bold alteration of course to starboard in order to pass astern of the other power-driven vessel [Point] as I am the give way vessel [Explanation]. I would ensure the action resulted passing at a safe distance and carefully check the effectiveness of the action until I am finally past and clear. [Rule 15 states...], [Rule 8 states] and [Rule 16 states] [Evidence]".

If, however, I can PE, but not PEE on my oral examiner, does that mean I don't understand the rules?

I have come to the conclusion that actually, by presenting the evidence in the form of verbatim or "near-verbatim" recital of the appropriate rules, a candidate is demonstrating that they are not simply learning the appropriate reactions to standard COLREG situations parrot-fashion, but actually, they know why their chosen action is in compliance with the rules.

"As much as I have had to unlearn some RN methods, equally, I have been able to draw on my experiences from the RN that have put me at a distinct advantage.."

Given that most COLREG situations faced in real life are not standard, it would be dangerous for an OOW to only remember the standard actions required by situations they have learnt about. COLREGs is not about "if you see this, do that" or "if you see that, do this". The rules are far more nuanced, complex and inter-related than that.

Image: Taking a visual fix onboard HMS RICHMOND

Learning the rules parrot-fashion, (or close to parrot-fashion), might actually be the best approach to avoid Officers only learning a set of given reactions to certain situations parrot-fashion. Learning the rules parrot-fashion is time consuming and is only part of the process. That being said, the process of learning the rules parrot-fashion has always helped me to identify important distinctions in the rules that can otherwise be missed when not critically evaluating every word. For example, learning that vessels CBD are PDVs; rule 18 makes accommodation for rules 9,10 & 13; Rule 13 is notwithstanding anything in Part B section I & II; Rule 17 makes a distinction between "may and shall"; reference throughout the rules to "safe passage" and "passage". These are all details which can be overlooked if due care is not given to every single word in the rules.

The RN fulfills the requirement for a candidate to be assessed in their understanding of the rules during their bridge simulator runs in "Nav Sea Week" in addition to the written exams.

One area I have noticed that is assessed far more rigorously by the MCA than by the RN is buoyage. It took me a little while to remind myself how to identify and react to a lateral marker with a preferred channel indicated in IALA B when outbound when preparing for the oral exam. I am not convinced that buoyage was taught in as much depth in the RN, nor was it assessed in such a pass/fail manner. In the MCA oral exam, one wrong decision with regards to buoyage would result in an immediate fail.

The biggest challenge an ex-Royal Navy Warfare Officer attempting MCA orals will face is a raft of new reference materials. In the RN, a good understanding of BR45 (Admiralty Manual of Navigation) and BR67 (Admiralty Manual of Seamanship) will get you through your "Nav Sea Week" and award you with an RN STCW II/1. For your MCA oral board, you'll need to have read, understood and be able to refer to:

• SOLAS
• MARPOL
• ISM
• STCW
• IAMSAR Vol 3
• COSWP
• BPG
• IMDG
• FFA / LSA
• ISPS
• BLU, IBC, IGC, ISMBC (rough working knowledge)

Most of the above will be entirely new to an RN Deck Officer although some of the documents will be similar in principle.

Image: Award of RN STCW II/1 in 2013

If you are considering making the switch from military to civilian seagoing careers, know that it is not impossible or impracticable, but it is challenging. It is important to recognise that the roles and responsibilities of an RN OOW are very different to that of an OOW in the Merchant Navy, with the exception of the principles of bridge watchkeeping.

Any RN friends of mine reading this will no doubt be commenting "throbber" at this next statement... but here goes. The transition from RN to MN has been fascinating. Going through the process of re-qualifying for a job that appears to be very similar, but is actually fundamentally different has been a really enjoyable challenge. As much as I have had to unlearn some RN methods, equally, I have been able to draw on my experiences from the RN that have put me at a significant advantage.

I am now half way through my Chief Mate HND units and intend to return to sea in April 2020.

Thanks to:

David Carter (MN Liaison Officer) - for guiding and mentoring me through the process.

Nigel Hope of Trinity House - for sponsoring me through my HNC.

Kathryn Neilson of the MNTB - for meeting me in 2018 to discuss the transition.

Stuart Benge of Chiltern - for managing my training pipeline.

Jon Milner of South Shields Marine School - for juggling several timetables to accommodate the requirements of my transition

Seamus Moran of South Shields Marine School - for helping me through my oral exam preparation!

Information for RN Warfare Officers considering transferring to MN

My background:

Sep 2011 - Joined the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer (deck officer equivalent in Merchant Navy) Trained on HMS Illustrious, Quorn and Hurworth

Dec 2013 - Qualified as a Warfare Officer, joined HMS Richmond as an Officer of the Watch

Jan 2016 - Selected for Command of HMS Example

Jan 18 - Passed my Command Qualification 1 board (CQ1)

Feb 18 - Appointed to Britannia Royal Naval College as Navigation Instructor

Sep 19 - Started it all again from scratch as a cadet in the Merchant Navy.

Dec 20 - Passed OOW(Unlimited) Oral Board