AMSA Marine Engine Driver (Grades 3, 2 and 1)

AI-drafted catalogue content pending SME review. Sea service and course requirements change; verify with AMSA before relying on this for a career decision.

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AUS-MED-M1 · The Three Grades

6 lessons

AUS-MED-M1-A Zero to <1500 kW, and the levers that halve the sea service Practice in examiner →

AUS-MED-L1.1

The Australian engineering system in one page

This lesson maps the full Australian engineering certification ladder, explaining how domestic and international regimes sit under separate Marine Orders, why every certificate ceiling is measured in kilowatts of propulsion power, and how the task book affects the sea service required at each grade.

AUS-MED-L1.2

MED Grade 3 - the zero rung

Marine Engine Driver Grade 3 near coastal is where the Australian engineering career starts. It is not a stepping stone you take after something else. There is nothing underneath it. If you have never held a ticket, never been to sea, and never taken an engine apart, this is the door.

AUS-MED-L1.3

MED Grade 2 - and the trade that halves it

Grade 2 lifts the inboard chief-engineer ceiling from 500 kW to 750 kW, and the second-engineer ceiling from 750 kW to 1500 kW. The engine-room limit stays at 3000 kW and the outboard entitlement stays unlimited.

AUS-MED-L1.4

MED Grade 1 - the first oral

Grade 1 takes the inboard chief-engineer ceiling to **under 1500 kW** and the second-engineer ceiling to **under 3000 kW**. The engine-room limit stays at 3000 kW. Outboards remain unlimited. It is the last certificate before Engineer Class 3 near coastal, which is the top of the domestic ladder.

AUS-MED-L1.5

The task book - the single biggest lever you have

An AMSA task book is a structured record of competencies, signed off aboard by a person qualified to sign them off. It is not a diary. It is a list of things AMSA wants to know you have actually done, and a column for the signature of the person who watched you do it.

AUS-MED-L1.6

Workshop skills - the legally defined list

The phrase turns up all over AMSA's engineering pages, and people assume it means something loose - handy with tools, did a bit of fitting. It does not. **Workshop skill equivalent qualification** is a defined term with a schedule of named qualifications behind it. Either your certificate is on the list, or it is not.

AUS-MED-M2 · The Engine

4 lessons

AUS-MED-M2-A The diesel, and what actually breaks Practice in examiner →

AUS-MED-L2.1

The four-stroke diesel cycle

This lesson explains how the four-stroke diesel cycle works, covering each stroke in sequence, why compression alone triggers ignition, what exhaust smoke colours reveal about engine faults, and how the two-stroke alternative handles gas exchange differently.

AUS-MED-L2.2

Fuel systems - and dirty fuel

The job of a fuel system is to deliver clean fuel, at very high pressure, in a precisely metered quantity, at exactly the right moment, as a fine mist. Every word in that sentence is a place it can go wrong.

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Lubrication - and what follows losing it

Lubricating oil does four jobs, and only the first is the obvious one.

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Cooling - and overheating

Combustion produces far more heat than the engine can turn into work. Most of it goes out of the exhaust; the rest has to be taken away, or the engine cooks. On a boat, the heat sink is the water you are floating in.

AUS-MED-M3 · The Rest of the Plant

3 lessons

AUS-MED-M3-A Electrics, auxiliaries and the outboard Practice in examiner →

AUS-MED-L3.1

Electrical generation, batteries and isolation

This lesson covers the two electrical systems found on small commercial vessels, explains where power originates and how batteries should be separated, sets out the five-step isolation procedure for safe working, and describes the faults to look for on a routine electrical round.

AUS-MED-L3.2

Bilge, fire and steering systems

The engine keeps the vessel moving. Bilge, fire and steering keep the vessel. A new engineer learns the engine because it is interesting. Learn these because they are the ones that matter when it counts, and because nobody tests them unless you do.

AUS-MED-L3.3

Outboard motors - and why your entitlement is unlimited

Australian MED certificates carry no power ceiling for outboard engines at any grade, making the outboard fleet a route to early authority. This lesson explains that rule, how outboard cooling, fuel and gearcase systems work, and what the most common failures look like in practice.

AUS-MED-M4 · Standing the Watch

3 lessons

AUS-MED-M4-A Running the space, and running it alone Practice in examiner →

AUS-MED-L4.1

The engine room round

This lesson explains how to conduct a systematic engine room round, covering the correct use of sight, hearing, smell and touch to detect faults early, and why a fixed route, written log and consistent reporting discipline are what give the round its value.

AUS-MED-L4.2

The log, the days, and the sea service letter that gets accepted

An engineer keeps two kinds of record. One is technical - what the plant did, what you did to it. The other is administrative - proof that you were there, doing the job, for the number of days you say you were. The first keeps the vessel running. The second is the only thing standing between you and the next certificate.

AUS-MED-L4.3

When it goes wrong - fire, flooding and loss of propulsion

Three casualties account for almost everything that will genuinely threaten a small commercial vessel: fire, flooding, and loss of propulsion. They share one rule, which comes at the end of this lesson and is the most important sentence in it.

Aligned to the published AMSA requirements and the relevant Marine Orders. Official source (AMSA).

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