ENSH Access Contest cheat sheet

ENSH (École Nationale Supérieure Maritime) access contest is governed by the French Ministry in charge of the sea; eligibility, age limits and diploma requirements are set by the annual arrêté d'ouverture, which prevails over any older notice.

COLREG Rule 1: the Rules apply to all vessels on the high seas and in waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels; inland waters may have local rules that take precedence where they exist.

COLREG Rule 5 (look-out), Rule 6 (safe speed), Rule 7 (risk of collision) and Rule 8 (action to avoid collision) form the standing 'good seamanship' core that applies in all visibility conditions.

COLREG Rule 13: an overtaking vessel keeps out of the way until finally past and clear; any approach from more than 22.5 degrees abaft the beam is overtaking, day or night.

COLREG Rule 15: two power-driven vessels crossing involve the vessel with the other on her starboard side giving way; Rule 17 defines the stand-on vessel's duty, including when to act alone.

COLREG Rule 18 hierarchy: power-driven vessel gives way to sailing vessel, to vessel engaged in fishing, and to vessel not under command or restricted in ability to manoeuvre; a vessel constrained by her draught sits between.

STCW Convention (as amended, Manila 2010) sets minimum rest hours: at least 10 hours of rest in any 24-hour period and 77 hours in any 7-day period, divided into no more than two periods.

MARPOL has six technical Annexes (I oil, II noxious liquid, III harmful packaged, IV sewage, V garbage, VI air pollution); Annexes I and II are mandatory for all Parties, III-VI require separate acceptance.

A ship's statutory certificates (Safety Construction, Safety Equipment, IOPP, ISSC) are issued after survey under SOLAS, MARPOL and Load Line conventions; validity and survey windows are set by flag State and port State control regimes.

GMDSS sea areas: A1 within VHF DSC coverage of a coast station, A2 within MF DSC coverage, A3 within Inmarsat coverage (roughly 70°N-70°S), A4 outside A1-A3 (polar regions).

DSC distress alert on VHF Ch 70 or MF/HF 2187.5 kHz uses format 'distress', nature of distress, and the 9-digit MMSI; a distress alert must be followed by a distress call and message on radiotelephony (Ch 16) or NBDP.

MAYDAY = distress; PAN PAN = urgency; SÉCURITÉ = safety. Repetition three times marks the priority level; the following message contains station identity, position, nature of distress and assistance required.

Distress relay by a station not itself in distress uses MAYDAY RELAY, sent only when the distressed station cannot transmit or when a shore station has not acknowledged.

VHF Ch 16 is the radiotelephony distress, safety and calling channel; Ch 70 is reserved for DSC only and must never carry voice traffic; Ch 13 is bridge-to-bridge navigation safety.

Silence periods for MF radiotelephony are minutes 00-03 and 30-33 of each hour on 2182 kHz; during these periods only distress, urgency and safety traffic is permitted.

A DSC distress alert should normally be acknowledged by a coast station or RCC; ships should acknowledge only if no shore station acknowledges within about 5 minutes, or if the alert is clearly from a nearby vessel.

Radio log entries must record time, frequency/channel, station worked, and content summary of distress, urgency and safety traffic; routine logs record watchkeeping and equipment status.

Latitude is measured 0-90° N or S from the equator; longitude 0-180° E or W from Greenwich. One minute of latitude equals one nautical mile (1852 m) on the Mercator chart.

Speed, distance, time: D = S × T, with S in knots and T in hours (or T in minutes divided by 60). 1 knot = 1 nm/h.

Mercator chart: rhumb lines are straight, but great circles curve poleward; the scale varies with latitude, so distances must be measured at the latitude of interest on the latitude border.

True bearing = magnetic bearing + variation (east variation added, west variation subtracted); compass bearing = magnetic bearing + deviation (east deviation added, west deviation subtracted).

Set and drift: set is the direction toward which a current flows; drift is its speed. Course to steer and speed made good result from a vector triangle of ship's course/speed and current set/drift.

Tidal height of tide = mean level + (amplitude × cosine of the phase angle); rule of twelfths approximates the rise/fall in successive hours as 1/12, 2/12, 3/12, 3/12, 2/12, 1/12 of the range.

A position fix requires at least two position lines; three lines give a cocked hat whose size indicates the accuracy of the fix.

IALA Region A (Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia): port-hand marks are red and can-shaped, starboard-hand marks green and conical; Region B (Americas, Japan, Korea, Philippines) reverses the colours.

Beaufort scale is based on observed sea state and wind effect: force 0 calm (<1 kt), force 6 strong breeze (22-27 kt), force 8 gale (34-40 kt), force 12 hurricane (≥64 kt).

Standard sea-level pressure is 1013.25 hPa; pressure tendency over 3 hours indicates whether a system is deepening (falling) or filling (rising).

In the Northern Hemisphere, wind blows counter-clockwise around a low and clockwise around a high, with surface friction turning the wind about 10-20° toward low pressure.

Buys Ballot's law: in the Northern Hemisphere, with your back to the wind, low pressure lies on your left; in the Southern Hemisphere, low pressure lies on your right.

A cold front typically brings a sharp pressure rise after passage, a wind veer (in the Northern Hemisphere), a line of cumulonimbus and squalls, and improving visibility behind.

A warm front brings a long period of stratiform cloud, continuous rain ahead, and a gradual wind veer with rising temperature after passage.

Fog forms when the air temperature reaches the dew point; radiation fog forms on clear calm nights, advection fog when warm moist air moves over a cold surface.

Tropical revolving storms require sea-surface temperature ≥26.5 °C, low vertical wind shear, and Coriolis effect (not within about 5° of the equator); they are called hurricanes, typhoons or cyclones by region.

Sea breeze blows from sea to land by day (land heats faster); land breeze blows from land to sea at night; both are strongest in the afternoon and weakest near dawn.

Mooring lines: head line, stern line, spring lines (fore and aft) and breast lines; springs prevent fore-and-aft movement, breasts hold the ship against the quay.

A vessel turns about a pivot point roughly one-third of her length from the bow when moving ahead, and about one-quarter from the stern when going astern.

Right-handed propeller: in ahead, it produces transverse thrust to starboard at the stern; in astern, the effect reverses and the stern walks to port.

Anchor scope: 5-7 times the water depth for chain in normal conditions, up to 10 times in heavy weather; the holding power depends on the catenary and the bottom.

Rate of turn (ROT) is measured in degrees per minute; a vessel with a turning circle diameter of about 3-4 ship lengths at full helm is typical for displacement hulls.

Man overboard immediate actions: hard helm toward the side of the casualty (to swing the stern away), release lifebuoy with light/smoke, post lookout, record position, sound three long blasts, and prepare recovery.

A vessel is 'in sight of one another' under COLREG only when one can be observed visually; radar-only contact does not trigger the steering and sailing rules of Part B Section II.

Mooring to a buoy: approach heading into the prevailing wind/current, pass a line through the ring, then take a second line to a second point to prevent rotation.

Dragging anchor detection: take bearings on fixed objects, use the echo sounder and GPS anchor alarm; the anchor bearing will change steadily if the anchor is dragging.

SOLAS Chapter III: abandon ship only on the master's order; the order is given by the master or the senior surviving officer, and is passed by word of mouth and the general alarm.

Muster list assigns each crew member to a survival craft station, fire party, or emergency duty; the list must be posted before sailing and updated whenever crew changes.

Lifebuoys on a cargo ship: at least 8, each with a self-igniting light and a quick-release buoyant line, distributed on both sides; at least half fitted with lights.

Lifejackets: one per person plus additional for watchkeepers; each must be fitted with a whistle and retro-reflective tape; immersion suits are required where the sea temperature is low.

Fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, heat; extinguishing removes one side. Class A = solid combustibles (water), B = flammable liquids (foam, CO2), C = gases (dry powder), D = metals (special powder), F = cooking oils.

Fixed CO2 systems must not be released into a space with people inside; the space is sealed, the boundary cooled, and the space ventilated only after the fire is confirmed out.

Emergency generator must be able to start automatically and supply emergency loads (steering, emergency lighting, radio, fire pump) within 45 seconds of a main power failure (SOLAS II-1).

Abandon ship: board the survival craft, clear the ship's side, stream the sea anchor, close the canopy, take anti-seasickness tablets, and stay in the vicinity of the casualty position.

EPIRB activation: manual or automatic (hydrostatic release) on sinking; it transmits on 406 MHz to the COSPAS-SARSAT system and includes the vessel's MMSI and position.

SMCP (Standard Marine Communication Phrases) is the IMO reference for safety-related communication; it uses fixed phrases such as 'Say again', 'Stand by on VHF channel one six', and 'I do not understand you'.

Distress call structure: MAYDAY (three times), this is [vessel name and callsign] (three times), MAYDAY [name], position, nature of distress, assistance required, number of persons on board, other information.

Urgency call: PAN PAN (three times), all stations (three times) or addressed station, this is [name and callsign], position, nature of urgency, assistance required.

Safety call: SÉCURITÉ (three times), all stations (three times), this is [name and callsign], position, nature of safety message (e.g. navigational warning).

'Mayday relay' is used when a third station retransmits a distress message on behalf of a vessel unable to transmit; the relaying station identifies itself as the originator of the relay.

The word 'over' ends a transmission and invites a reply; 'out' ends a communication and requires no reply; the two are never combined in the same transmission.

Numbers in radiotelephony are spoken digit by digit: 0 = zero, 1 = one, 2 = two, 3 = three, 4 = four, 5 = five, 6 = six, 7 = seven, 8 = eight, 9 = nine; decimal point is spoken as 'decimal'.

SMCP phrase for helm orders: 'Port ten', 'Starboard ten', 'Midships', 'Steady', 'Steady as she goes', 'Meet her', 'Hard-a-port', 'Hard-a-starboard'.

MARPOL Annex I: any discharge of oil or oily mixture into the sea is prohibited except under specific conditions (outside special areas, ship proceeding en route, oil content ≤15 ppm through 15 ppm equipment, and in some cases ≤15 ppm with monitoring).

MARPOL Annex IV: discharge of untreated sewage is prohibited within 3 nm of land; between 3 and 12 nm, only comminuted and disinfected sewage may be discharged; beyond 12 nm, untreated sewage is permitted if the ship is proceeding en route at ≥4 knots.

MARPOL Annex V: garbage discharge is generally prohibited; food waste may be discharged outside 12 nm (or 3 nm if comminuted and passed through a screen with openings ≤25 mm).

MARPOL Annex VI: sulphur content of fuel oil is limited to 0.50% m/m globally and 0.10% m/m in Emission Control Areas (Baltic, North Sea, North American, US Caribbean).

MARPOL Annex VI NOx Tier III applies to new ships built on or after 1 January 2016 operating in NOx ECAs (North American and US Caribbean); Tier II applies elsewhere.

Oil Record Book Part I is kept by all ships of 400 GT and above; Part II by oil tankers of 150 GT and above; entries are made without delay and signed by the officer in charge and the master.

Garbage Record Book is required for ships of 400 GT and above and for ships certified to carry 15 or more persons; entries cover each discharge, incineration or delivery to a port reception facility.

The 'special areas' under MARPOL Annex I include the Mediterranean, Baltic, Black Sea, Red Sea, Gulf, Gulf of Aden, Antarctic, North West European waters, Oman area, and Southern South African waters.

Ballast Water Management Convention: ships must manage ballast water to the D-2 standard (treatment) or, during the interim period, meet the D-1 exchange standard (exchange at least 200 nm from land and 200 m depth).