Tag: RulesoftheRoad

3rd Mate Unlimited Near Coastal Feedback

Posted on by LAPWARE Admin

Rules of the Road (Q100)

-Maintain a safe speed regardless of visibility 

-Law enforcement vessels may display a flashing blue light WHILE ALSO engaged in public safety activities 

-law enforcement vessels are referenced in inland rules

-read the questions thoroughly, restricted visibility, vessel approaching within 3 miles FROM ASTERN and risk of collision exists, maintain course and speed. If you slow to bare steerage you risk getting hit from astern

All in all, it was not bad, SIMILAR to what we’ve been seeing with LAPware, Seatrials and sample exams (those are the only ones i can compare to because that’s all I used) but definitely not the same. Make sure you read the actual book, read the question and take your time. Have a good understanding of the rules in general. 

Nav Gen Near Coastal (Q113)

-Geographic range of Shinnecock light ref#680 (I recognize this from LAPware)

-Articulated light is superior due to a smaller watch radius (somebody else showed me a question from LAPware on this, so apparently it’s not new)

-Notify the coast guard if you anchor next to a submerged pipeline 

-Notify the nearest coast guard unit if scatter from an advertisement billboard is interfering with navigational lights

-Slack water is the best time to tie up without a tug on a river dealing with tidal occurrences(I think I worded this right)

-when reporting wind, report in true bearings (probably not new, but I had a brainfart)

Mostly the same as LAPware, Seatrials and sample exams. A handful of questions I havent seen before including ZOC, I had 2 of them. Was able to work through them. One was a ZOC over an obstruction. 

Nav problems Near Coastal (Q116) 

Mostly the same as Sample exam. Curve ball of a rotary current, but I went to the book and managed to figure it out. It wasn’t bad, I started on the rotary current page, by the time I finished reading, it turned me to the wind driven currents, after I got that, it sent me to the “combination tide” pages and worked through that. It was doable, definitely had to slow my mind down and read it and trust myself. I covered the answers, did the problem 1 way, uncovered the answers and compared, I got an answer that was closest and the others were way off. So I did it a second way, just to see if I’m off, it was again right there. So they’re doable, and in the book. Use a maneuvering board! Take your time and READ the whole thing

I had:

-Rotary current

-deviation table (gyro error)

-Azimuth (Sun) exact question is the one where LHA 044-44.4′ definitely seen that a few times on LAPware

-Amplitude (sun) the other guy who tested with me had one of the moon

-ETA (same style as sample exam)

-Tide (NOAA chart, height of tide over an obstruction)

-Time tick (chrono error) (same as sample exam style)

-Mercator (determine course)

-RPM (the usual)

-Slip (the usual, but had to determine time between two days. Ended up being 38hrs)

Chart plot  (Q115-Operator Level on LAPWARE)

-know your course made good, speed made good, course to steer, etc. Study chart 1 abbreviations before you go in. ED was on a chart above an obstruction in Chesapeake bay, bottom right of the chart. It means “Existence Doubtful”. Just an example that stuff like that is helpful. I believe “the fathometer read 74” don’t quote me

-Leaving little creek harbor, having to find your gyro error, based off the range. In the coast pilot it says something like 177-30′ just consider it 177.5 degrees. 

-Norfolk Airport “Rotating White and Green light”

-Also, read the questions, they wanted to know your distance from Cape Henry using a tangent arc from YOUR vessel. I pictured a VRM and managed to get it right.

Deck Safety (Q112)

VERY similar to nmc sample exam. Multiple questions I’ve seen a handful of times on Seatrials and LAPware. Understand difference between hogging and sagging. Really not much more to put out there. I only had 3 problems, a mean draft, free surface correction and a height of the center of gravity of the cargo where they give you 4 things and you gotta get through their little puzzle. *Lifeboat 6kts in smooth water. What is a pyrometer? I don’t remember, but I want to say it had something to do with a diesel engine exhaust, although I was able to find it in the dictionary they provided, and it was quite helpful.

I found a handful of answers in pub 117 pertaining to EPIRB and NAVTEX safetynet, good stuff in there. Word for word answers.

-For a Class K fire, wet chemical extinguisher 

-Orange smoke AND flares both expire after 42 months but double check me, it IS in the CFRs.

Deck General (Q111) 

Deck Gen was very hard for me, maybe because I was burnt out by the end, I didn’t have any broken stowage.

-Ice navigation, National Ice center is apparently a thing. 

-how should your ship be Ballasted before entering ice

-ice thickness you can typically enter

-where to put a buoy if you have to slip the anchor

-Change of air in gas freeing a tank for how long (3 min) not sure if it was specific to that though.

-Latex something about how it can be a nauseous liquid

-what is not included in a stability test

(I recommend finding the answers to these items above, it will probably help out. Unfortunately, I was so burnt at the end that this is all I could get)

All in all, study hard, Keep doing practice exams and reviewing the ones you miss. There’s a LOT of information in the pubs given, we just need to know how to find it. Goodluck everyone, LAPware and Seatrials was an awesome combo for me. I did exams on both, saw two different layouts for the wording. When I missed a question on either, I was able to look it up in Seatrials and bookmark it to continue seeing it  Also they give fairly good explanations. I’m pretty against AI stuff, but “the navigator” AI that came with Seatrials was pretty awesome and very helpful. Especially the “explain it to me like I’m 5” function lol

The Rule 19 “Overtaking” Question — Why So Many Are Missing It, and How to Answer It

Posted on by LAPWARE Admin

Candidates keep reporting (and failing) this question, and it’s the one we’ve warned about in license prep. Here it is, why the NMC keys it the way they do, and — most importantly — how to answer it on exam day.

The Question

BOTH INTERNATIONAL AND INLAND: Your vessel is underway in restricted visibility. You have detected the presence of a vessel ahead by radar alone and not in sight. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. You should sound the danger signal 

B. You may alter course to port if overtaking that vessel 

C. You should return the same fog signal that the other vessel is sounding 

D. You may be in a head-on situation

The Keyed Answer: B

The NMC keys B, and their reasoning is that it comes straight out of Rule 19(d)(i): when taking avoiding action for a vessel detected by radar alone, you shall avoid “an alteration of course to port for a vessel forward of the beam, other than for a vessel being overtaken.” In other words, Rule 19 itself says a turn to port is permissible when overtaking.

The NMC rules out D by citing Rule 11: the “head-on situation” is defined in Rule 14, which sits in Section II (Vessels in Sight of One Another) and applies only when vessels are in sight. In restricted visibility, by definition, there is no “head-on situation.”

Why This Question Is Flawed

Here’s the problem. “Overtaking” is defined in Rule 13 — which sits in the same Section II that the NMC uses to disqualify answer D. If Rule 11 makes “head-on” inapplicable to vessels not in sight, the identical logic makes “overtaking” inapplicable too. You cannot be in a Rule 13 overtaking situation with a vessel you have never seen.

Rule 19 nonetheless uses the word “overtaken” — an inherent conflict written into the Rules themselves. (It’s not the only one: International Rule 9(e)(i) says a vessel in doubt may sound the Rule 34(d) signal, while Rule 34(d) says a vessel in doubt shall sound it. An optional signal made mandatory.)

So the question, as worded, asks you to accept Section II terminology inside Rule 19 for the keyed answer while rejecting Section II terminology to eliminate a distractor. A candidate who understands the Rules holistically — the way you actually have to apply them on the bridge — can defensibly argue that no answer is correct. Protests on this question have been submitted and denied.

How to Answer It on Exam Day

The NMC tests the text of Rule 19, not the conflict buried in it. So:

When a question places you in restricted visibility with a vessel detected by radar alone, answer strictly from the language of Rule 19 — and pick the choice that quotes it.

Answer B is a near-verbatim statement of Rule 19(d)(i). A, C, and D each contradict the Rules outright: the danger signal (Rule 34(d)) is an in-sight maneuvering signal, your fog signal is dictated by your own vessel’s status — never an echo of another vessel’s — and “head-on” exists only in sight.

Bottom line: choose B. Recognize the flaw, set it aside, and give the NMC the Rule 19 language it is looking for. Argue the Rules on the bridge and in the debrief — on the exam, play the question as keyed.