BD Deck Officer Class 2 (Chief Mate)

It certifies you at management level, so you can serve as chief mate and, with the appropriate further certification and sea service, as master. In practice it tells employers and port state inspectors that you can run cargo operations, stability calculations and passage planning without supervision, and take command in an emergency.

Expect written papers - some multiple-choice, some requiring long handwritten descriptive answers - followed by an oral examination with an examiner. The written stage tests calculation and regulation knowledge; the oral tests whether you can explain and defend decisions under questioning. The exact paper structure and subject combinations are set by the Department of Shipping.

Those figures change and are set by the administering authority, so check the Department of Shipping's current examination notice rather than relying on what a senior officer told you years ago. Sitting times and paper formats have been revised more than once, and the official notice is the only reliable source.

The content is not exotic - you have met most of it at watchkeeping level - but the depth and volume are much greater, and the descriptive papers punish shallow knowledge. Candidates who fail usually lose marks on stability calculations, cargo paperwork and vague seamanship answers rather than on obscure theory.

Retake and referral rules are set nationally and have changed over time, so confirm the current position with the Department of Shipping before you plan your schedule. Treat every paper you sit as one you intend to pass first time, because waiting for the next examination cycle costs months of career progression.

Start with ship stability and cargo calculations, because they are slow to learn and appear across several papers. Add ship construction and damage control next, then navigation and passage planning, then law and conventions, which reward steady reading rather than practice. Keep meteorology alive with short daily sessions near the end.

A great deal. Oral examiners probe the same material as the written papers but want to hear your reasoning, see how you handle a follow-up question, and check that you can give a clear, unambiguous order. Practise aloud with a colleague acting as examiner; silent revision does not build that fluency.

Write answers by hand, under time, and mark them against the marks available - a question worth many marks needs structure, headings and specifics, not a paragraph of generalities. Keep a working notebook of calculations and regulation references, and redo past errors until the method is automatic.

Yes, approved sea service as a watchkeeping officer is a standard requirement, verified from your discharge book and testimonials. The amount required, the types of vessel that count and the documentary evidence accepted are set by the Department of Shipping, so confirm the current position before you apply.

Yes, in the sense that passage planning, position fixing and distress communications are examined as management-level responsibilities. You are expected to interpret what the equipment is telling you, plan a passage on an electronic chart, and manage a distress or urgency traffic situation - not merely press buttons.