Pollution prevention
- Apply MARPOL and its Special Areas and discharge limits in daily operations — oil, sewage, garbage and air emissions.
- Know and be able to put into effect the ship's Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) and Garbage Management Plan.
- Know the anti-pollution equipment carried and how to deploy it, and the immediate actions and reporting duties on any spill.
- Keep the Oil Record Book and Garbage Record Book correctly — false or missing entries are a serious offence.
Legislation and standards
The OOW works inside a framework of Merchant Shipping Notices — MSNs, MGNs and MINs — and keeps the ship's copy of the Annual Summary of Notices to Mariners current. Health-and-safety legislation and the CoSWP govern shipboard work; SOLAS and the marine-environment conventions set the standards; the ISM Code governs safe management through the ship's Safety Management System, in which the Master has overriding authority to act for safety; and Flag and Port State Control, together with the ISPS Code, oversee compliance and security.
Business and law
| Topic | What the OOW should know |
|---|---|
| Large Yacht Code | The commercial code the vessel operates under and what it requires |
| Musters and drills | The required schedule and the OOW's role in each |
| Safe manning / hours | The minimum safe-manning document and the hours-of-rest rules under MLC/STCW |
| Crew agreements | The basis of employment and the seafarer's rights under MLC |
| Seaworthiness & salvage | The duty to keep the vessel seaworthy, and the basics of salvage and general average |
| Business-and-law topics examined at OOW level. |
NOTE — Know the duty and where it is written The examiner does not want a legal recital; they want you to know the duty, the standard it must meet, and which MSN, code or convention holds the detail. Demonstrate that and you present as a safe, professional officer.