Navigational Procedures Practice Questions for the MCA OOW Oral

Navigational Procedures in the MCA orals

Navigational procedures is the third heavy topic on OOW Part A: three questions, twelve test points, and an 80% minimum. In the oral it is where the examiner checks you can run a safe watch: plan a passage, fix the ship, use ECDIS and radar with their limitations, and know when to call the master.

On Part A

12 of the 60 test points (3 of 15 questions); you need 80%, 10 of 12

In the oral

The examiner can ask about any part of the syllabus, in scenarios. Say your answer out loud before you check it.

Our drill

10 questions from 48 Navigational Procedures questions, untimed, a model answer after every one; one free attempt, unlimited with a pass

Study notes

• Passage planning has four stages: appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring (IMO Guidelines for Voyage Planning, SOLAS Chapter V Regulation 34). The plan covers the whole voyage, berth to berth, and the master approves it.
• The officer of the watch represents the master and is responsible for the safe navigation of the ship until relieved. A watch is not handed over while a manoeuvre or action to avoid a hazard is in progress (STCW Code A-VIII/2).
• Call the master when visibility deteriorates, traffic or another vessel’s movements cause concern, you cannot keep course, an expected landmark or sounding is not raised, equipment or alarms fail, or you are in any doubt (A-VIII/2 and the master’s standing orders).
• Fix the position by the most suitable method for the conditions and cross-check it by a second, independent means; GNSS is never the only source. In coastal waters, visual bearings and radar ranges from charted features are the primary checks.
• ECDIS: set the safety contour and safety depth for the ship’s draught and under-keel clearance, check the route for dangers, and know how to monitor position with GNSS lost (radar overlay, parallel indexing, dead reckoning). Paper or a second ECDIS is the back-up.
• Radar and ARPA: relative motion shows the risk of collision directly (CPA and TCPA); true motion shows other ships’ courses and speeds. Know the effect of wrong speed input, target swap and the danger of trial manoeuvres used without care.
• Compass error = variation + deviation (east positive). Check the gyro and magnetic compass errors every watch and after every large alteration, by transit, azimuth or amplitude.

What the examiner looks for

• Passage planning with charts (ENC and RNC), sailing directions, light lists, tide tables, navigational warnings and routeing information (MIN 653).
• Watchkeeping principles from STCW A-VIII/2: taking over, keeping and handing over the watch, and calling the master.
• Using ECDIS, radar and ARPA with and without GNSS, and the limitations and errors of each.
• Position fixing, compass errors and the ICS Bridge Procedures Guide.

How to study it

• Write your own handover checklist and say it aloud: position, course and speed, traffic, weather, navigational hazards, equipment status, master’s orders.
• Learn the call-the-master list by heart; it comes up in nearly every OOW oral.
• For ECDIS, be able to explain safety contour against safety depth and what happens if they are set wrongly.
• Take the navigational procedures drill until you score 80% or better.

Common questions

The other MCA orals topics

• International Collision Regulations
• IALA Systems of Buoyage
• Seaworthiness
• Cargo Work
• Emergency Procedures
• Communication
• Regulation
• Other (Ship Handling, Meteorology, Safety and Security)
• Master: Law, Certificates and Surveys
• Master: Stability, Damage and Emergencies
• OOW Part A practice test (15 questions, 40 minutes)
• Mixed drill: every topic

Sources

• MCA: MIN 653 (M) Amendment 1, Deck Oral Exam Syllabus (OOW, Chief Mate and Master; expires 1 May 2027)
• MCA: MIN 690 Amendment 6, oral exam booking, Part A and Part B, resits and appeals
• MCA: MSF 4274, application for a deck oral examination (fees, oral pass validity)
• MCA: MIN 720 (M) Amendment 1, modernised officer qualifications and digital assessments (30 September 2026)
• MCA: MIN 654 (M) Amendment 1, Engineering and Electro-technical Officer Oral Exam Syllabus
• MCA: MSN 1781 (M+F) Amendment 3, the COLREG as applied in the UK
• IALA: Recommendation R1001, the IALA Maritime Buoyage System (Edition 2.0)