Hong Kong Part A Written Test common mistakes
Hong Kong Part A Written Test · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Reading a lateral buoy's colour and topmark but ignoring the direction of buoyage, so the candidate treats a red buoy as 'keep to port' regardless of whether the vessel is entering or leaving harbour.
Candidates memorise 'red port, green starboard' from IALA Region A as an absolute rule and never link it to the direction of buoyage shown on the chart or by the general direction of the flood tide. In Hong Kong the direction reverses when you cross from an inbound to an outbound leg, so the same physical buoy changes which side it should be left on.
What to do instead
Before answering any buoyage question, state aloud the direction of buoyage for that leg. Then apply IALA Region A: red can/conical to port, green can/conical to starboard when proceeding along the direction of buoyage. Practise with Hong Kong chart extracts where a channel is transited in both directions and write down which side each buoy falls on for each direction.
Applying the crossing rule (Rule 15) to a vessel approaching from dead ahead or nearly so, and altering to starboard when the other vessel is actually an overtaking vessel or a head-on meeting.
Candidates classify by the bearing they first notice rather than by the other vessel's relative bearing and aspect at a consistent interval. A vessel slowly drawing aft from fine on the bow is often still treated as a crossing vessel when it has already become an overtaking vessel under Rule 13.
What to do instead
Take a compass bearing of the other vessel, note it, and re-take it after a short interval. If the bearing is steady and the vessel is forward of the beam, treat as crossing or head-on as appropriate; if it is abeam or abaft the beam and gaining, it is overtaking and Rule 13 overrides Rules 14 and 15. Drill with three-vessel scenarios and state which rule governs before deciding the action.
Answering 'give way' questions by describing only the give-way vessel's action and omitting the stand-on vessel's duty to hold course and speed and, in extremis, to act.
Candidates learn the rule from the perspective of the vessel that must manoeuvre and forget Rule 17, so they lose marks on the stand-on vessel's obligations, including the point at which it may and must take action.
What to do instead
For every collision-regulation scenario, answer in three parts: the give-way vessel's action, the stand-on vessel's initial duty, and the stand-on vessel's action when collision cannot be avoided by the give-way vessel alone. Learn Rule 17(a)(ii) and 17(b) verbatim in substance.
Plotting a position fix on the chart but not converting it to a course to steer that accounts for set and drift, then reporting a course made good as the course steered.
Candidates are comfortable with latitude and longitude plotting but weak on the vector triangle, so they confuse course to steer, course made good and heading, especially in Hong Kong's strong tidal streams.
What to do instead
Practise the vector triangle until it is automatic: draw the water track from the fix, lay off the tidal set and drift for the passage duration, and measure the course to steer and speed made good. Always label the three vectors and state units. Do five triangles per study session using realistic Hong Kong tidal rates.
Treating a charted depth as the actual depth of water without adding the height of tide, or ignoring chart datum and the drying height of a feature.
Candidates conflate chart datum with mean sea level and forget that soundings are below chart datum, so at any state of tide the actual depth is charted depth plus height of tide. Drying heights are the reverse and are given above chart datum.
What to do instead
Adopt a fixed routine for every depth question: actual depth equals charted sounding plus height of tide above chart datum. For drying features, actual depth equals height of tide minus drying height, and the feature is awash or dry when the result is zero or negative. Work through Hong Kong examples with a tide table.
Giving a MAYDAY or PAN PAN without the full, correctly ordered content, and omitting position, nature of distress and number of persons on board.
Candidates memorise the opening words but not the structure, and under time pressure they drop the items that actually allow rescue. They also confuse the urgency and distress prefixes.
What to do instead
Learn the distress message sequence as a fixed script: MAYDAY three times, this is, vessel name three times, callsign, MAYDAY, position in latitude and longitude or by bearing and distance from a charted landmark, nature of distress, assistance required, persons on board, any other information, over. Rehearse aloud with a timer and use PAN PAN PAN for urgency only.
Assuming the stand-on or give-way decision is settled by size or by who is more manoeuvrable rather than by the vessel-type hierarchy in Rule 18.
Candidates apply real-world courtesy or commercial practice instead of the rule, so they treat a large ferry as automatically having right of way over a small pleasure craft.
What to do instead
Learn the Rule 18 hierarchy in order: power-driven vessel gives way to a vessel not under command, a vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre, a vessel engaged in fishing, and a sailing vessel. Apply it before Rules 14 and 15, and remember that a vessel constrained by her draught has special status but does not displace the not-under-command and restricted-in-ability categories.
Reading a marine forecast as a single figure and ignoring the difference between wind speed, gusts and sea state, and not checking whether the warning is for the area the candidate will actually be in.
Candidates skim the forecast for a number and do not match the forecast area to the planned passage, nor do they appreciate that Hong Kong's enclosed waters and exposed southern waters can have very different conditions on the same day.
What to do instead
For each forecast, extract and write down: area, validity period, wind direction and speed, gusts, sea state, visibility and any warnings such as a strong monsoon signal or tropical cyclone signal. Compare the forecast area with the planned route and identify the exposed legs. Practise with a real Hong Kong Observatory coastal forecast.
Answering port-regulation questions from general practice rather than from the specific Hong Kong requirements, for example on speed limits, reporting to Vessel Traffic Centre, or the local rules for crossing harbour fairways.
Candidates prepare from generic seamanship material and do not study the local ordinances and port rules, so they give answers that are correct elsewhere but wrong in Hong Kong waters.
What to do instead
Build a one-page summary of the local requirements you are examined on: speed limits in the harbour and in specified areas, VTS reporting points and channels, prohibited anchoring areas, and local collision precautions for the harbour fairways. Verify each item against the current ordinance or port rules rather than a secondary summary.
Leaving the charted position of a mark or hazard as a single point and not allowing for the horizontal accuracy of the fix, so the candidate reports passing clear when the vessel is inside the danger area.
Candidates treat a GPS position as exact and do not consider the accuracy of the fix, the chart's own accuracy, or the effect of a small cross-track error over a long leg.
What to do instead
For any clearance question, compute the cross-track distance from the planned track to the hazard and compare it with the combined accuracy of the fix and the chart. State a minimum safe passing distance rather than a point. Practise with a passage plan that has a narrow channel and a shoal on one side.