Registered Ship Surveyor study guide
Registered Ship Surveyor · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
A Registered Ship Surveyor is a professional who inspects and certifies that ships, their equipment and their management systems meet the applicable statutory and classification requirements. Registration is typically administered by a national maritime administration or an authorised professional body, and holders are the people who sign survey reports, recommend certificates and, where delegated, act on behalf of the flag State. The Registered Ship Surveyor study guide has 9 sections and about 4,182 words.
01International Maritime Conventions and National Regulation: Instruments, Delegation and Certificate Arithmetic
This domain tests public law at sea: which instrument governs a given ship and deficiency, who has power to enforce it, and which document proves compliance. Questions usually present a ship type, a date and a defect, then ask which certificate, survey window or administration applies.
443 words, about 2 min02Ship Construction, Hull Structure and Strength: Load Paths, Scantlings and Structural Detail
Structural questions test whether you can follow a load from sea pressure through plating, stiffeners, girders and bulkheads into the hull girder, and whether you recognise details that create stress concentration. The exam favours primary hull girder strength, framing systems, special structures and the reason behind rule scantlings.
454 words, about 2 min03Stability, Subdivision and Load Lines: Criteria, Damage Cases and Freeboard Corrections
This domain tests the numerical side of safety: intact stability criteria, the logic of subdivision and damage stability, and the assignment of freeboard under the 1966 Load Line Convention. Expect a calculation with a correction factor and a question that turns on which criterion applies to which ship.
497 words, about 2 min04Machinery, Propulsion and Auxiliaries: Rule Performance, Redundancy and Emissions Control
Machinery questions concentrate on the performance the rules demand rather than on thermodynamics: how fast the rudder must move, what redundancy is required, what happens when the machinery space is periodically unattended, and how MARPOL Annex VI limits what leaves the funnel. SOLAS II-1 requires main and auxiliary steering gear, with duplicate control from the navigating bridge and the steering gear compartment and clear changeover instructions at both.
490 words, about 2 min05Electrical, Control and Automation Systems: Sources of Power, Protection and Fail-Safe Design
Electrical questions test the architecture rather than component theory: which source supplies which service, where the emergency source may be located, how faults are detected, and how automation is designed to fail. Control and automation questions ask about alarms, remote control, and the human interface in an unattended machinery space.
467 words, about 2 min06Safety Equipment, Fire Protection and LSA: Divisions, Fixed Systems and Servicing Cycles
This domain tests two linked systems: passive and active fire protection under SOLAS II-2, and life-saving appliances under SOLAS III and the LSA Code. Questions tend to be specific: what class of division a boundary needs, how much extinguishing medium a space requires, what interval governs servicing, and what the drill record must show.
471 words, about 2 min07Survey Procedures, Inspection Techniques and Reporting: Scope, Evidence and Records
This domain tests how a surveyor plans, executes and records work. Questions ask which survey applies at a given point in the cycle, what evidence supports a finding, how a defect is graded, and what must appear in the report and the class or statutory record.
467 words, about 2 min08Materials, Welding and Non-Destructive Testing: Toughness, Procedures and Defect Detection
This domain tests the metallurgical and procedural knowledge behind a sound weld: which steel grade a location needs, how a welding procedure is qualified, which defect a given test can find, and how results are accepted or rejected. Normal-strength hull structural steel is graded A, B, D and E, with increasing notch toughness verified by impact testing at lower temperatures, which is why higher grades are specified for thick plating, billet strakes and regions of stress concentration.
422 words, about 2 min09Professional Ethics, Liability and Surveyor Conduct: Independence, Duty and Defensible Records
This domain tests judgement rather than recall. Questions place a surveyor under pressure, usually commercial, and ask what a competent and independent professional does, records and reports.
471 words, about 2 min