Juniorofficerseksamen common mistakes
Juniorofficerseksamen · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
On COLREG crossing and overtaking scenarios the candidate answers from the picture in their head instead of first fixing which vessel is the give-way vessel, then applying Rule 15/13/16 in order, so they pick the wrong vessel to manoeuvre or say both should turn to starboard.
Candidates memorise rule numbers without practising the decision sequence under time pressure, and they confuse 'right of way' with 'stand-on' and assume the stand-on vessel must never act. The exam phrases scenarios as prose rather than a diagram, so the mental picture drifts.
What to do instead
Drill a fixed three-step routine for every encounter: (1) classify the situation (head-on Rule 14, crossing Rule 15, overtaking Rule 13), (2) name give-way and stand-on vessel, (3) state the required action and the point at which the stand-on vessel may or must act (Rule 17). Practise with written prose scenarios, not diagrams, and justify each step aloud before choosing an answer.
The candidate answers navigation questions with a single plotted course or bearing and ignores the effect of set and drift, or reports a course-to-steer without converting between true, magnetic and compass bearings using variation and deviation.
Basic chartwork is learned as a mechanical plotting exercise, and candidates skip the correction step (deviation from the deviation table, variation from the chart) because it feels like extra work. Current and leeway are treated as advanced topics and left unpractised.
What to do instead
Work a fixed correction ladder every time: true → variation → magnetic → deviation → compass, and reverse it for plotting. For set and drift, always draw the water track, the tidal vector and the ground track as three separate arrows before computing anything, then check the answer by asking whether the current pushes the vessel ahead or sideways. Do timed drills with a printed deviation table until the ladder is automatic.
Stability questions are answered by quoting a definition ('GM is the metacentric height') without calculating it or interpreting the sign and magnitude, and the candidate fails to link negative GM, free surface effect or a high centre of gravity to the resulting behaviour of the ship.
Stability is taught with formulas that candidates memorise symbolically. They do not connect KG, KM and GM numerically, and free surface effect is remembered as a phrase rather than as a loss of metacentric height proportional to the free surface moment.
What to do instead
For every stability question, write the numbers given, compute GM = KM − KG (corrected for free surface), state whether the ship is stable, neutral or unstable, and describe the physical consequence (stiff, tender, list, angle of loll). Practise with small numerical examples and sketch the G, M and B positions each time so the sign of GM has a physical meaning.
In maritime English tasks the candidate translates word-for-word from Norwegian and produces grammatically wrong or ambiguous standard phrases, for example writing 'we are not under command because engine broken' instead of the standard phraseology, or misreading a SMCP message and answering the wrong question.
Candidates rely on general English and everyday vocabulary instead of the limited Standard Marine Communication Phrases, and they read the question stem quickly, missing the operational detail (who is speaking, what is requested, what is confirmed).
What to do instead
Learn the SMCP message patterns as fixed chunks (MAYDAY, PAN PAN, SECURITE, request/confirm/intend, 'I am not under command', 'What is your present course and speed'). Practise rewriting plain sentences into SMCP and back. On reading tasks, underline the speaker, the addressee and the requested action before answering.
Emergency questions are answered with a generic sequence ('raise the alarm, muster the crew, fight the fire') without matching the response to the specific emergency, and without stating who does what, in what order, and which equipment or signal is used.
Drills are experienced passively, so candidates remember the atmosphere of a muster rather than the decision points. They also mix up fire classes and extinguishing agents, or confuse the abandon-ship and man-overboard sequences.
What to do instead
Build a one-page decision card per emergency type (fire in accommodation, fire in engine room, man overboard, abandon ship, collision, flooding) listing: initial alarm and announcement, immediate actions by bridge and by the team, equipment and agent, and the signal used. Learn fire classes against extinguishing agents explicitly, and rehearse the order of actions aloud until it is a sequence, not a list.
Watchkeeping questions are answered by describing what the officer on watch does in general terms, missing the specific legal duties: handing over the watch properly, not leaving the bridge, calling the master in defined circumstances, and the conditions for a sole lookout.
Candidates treat watchkeeping as common sense and have not read the STCW watchkeeping provisions closely, so they miss the formal triggers (reduced visibility, traffic density, doubt about position, breakdown of equipment) that require calling the master.
What to do instead
Memorise the explicit list of circumstances requiring the OOW to call the master and the handover checklist (position, course, speed, traffic, notices, equipment status). Practise answering with the legal source in mind and state the trigger condition explicitly rather than describing a general attitude.
Pollution-prevention questions are answered at the level of intention ('we must not pollute') rather than the concrete regulatory mechanism: which annex applies, what the discharge limits and special-area rules are, which record book entry is required and who signs it.
MARPOL is studied as a list of annexes without the operational numbers, and candidates do not connect a scenario (bilge water, garbage, oily water separator alarm) to the specific prohibition, limit and documentation.
What to do instead
For each annex, learn a compact fact set: what it covers, the discharge criteria, special areas, and the record book and retention period. Practise scenario questions by naming the annex first, then the limit, then the record entry and signatory. Keep a single summary table and test yourself on numbers, since the exam marks hinge on them.
Regulatory questions are answered by mixing up which instrument does what, for example attributing manning or certificate requirements to SOLAS, or confusing flag-state, port-state and coastal-state jurisdiction when a scenario involves an incident in another country's waters.
The instruments overlap in topic, and candidates learn them as a blur of acronyms without a map of which convention covers safety of life, pollution, training, manning and labour. Jurisdiction is rarely taught with concrete examples.
What to do instead
Build a one-page map: SOLAS (construction and safety equipment), MARPOL (pollution), STCW (training and watchkeeping), MLC (labour and living conditions), COLREG (collision avoidance), plus UNCLOS for jurisdiction. For jurisdiction, work through short scenarios (incident in territorial sea, in the EEZ, on the high seas) and state which state may act and on what basis.
Seamanship answers describe the manoeuvre in vague terms ('approach carefully', 'secure the line') without naming the specific command, rope, knot, or sequence, and candidates cannot state the effect of wind, current and propeller walk on the manoeuvre they propose.
Practical seamanship is learned on deck by imitation, so candidates know what it looks like but not what it is called or why it works. Transverse thrust, pivot point and the effect of a right-handed propeller are the usual gaps.
What to do instead
For each standard operation (berthing, unberthing, anchoring, mooring, towing, heavy weather preparation) write the sequence with named commands and named equipment, then add one line on how wind, current and propeller effect change it. Learn the pivot point behaviour at ahead and astern and practise predicting the bow and stern swing before choosing an answer.
The candidate runs out of time or loses marks on multi-part questions because they answer the first plausible option without eliminating distractors, and they do not flag and return to uncertain questions, leaving later easy marks unattempted.
Exam technique is not practised: candidates read the stem once, recognise a familiar word in one option and stop. Under time pressure they also spend too long on one numerical question instead of securing the straightforward ones first.
What to do instead
Practise full-length timed papers. Use a fixed method: read the stem to the end, mark the key constraint, eliminate two options with a stated reason, then choose. Set a per-question time budget, skip and flag anything over budget, and reserve the last minutes for flagged items and for checking that every question has an answer.