Navigation
Navigation in the Croatian Master Mariner exam tests passage planning, position fixing, COLREG application and safe use of ECDIS and radar on coastal and open-sea voyages. Answers must show a defensible plan, not just a track line.
Core rules
- Plan berth to berth: pilot boarding, no-go areas, safety depth and UKC, abort points, contingency anchorages and weather limits.
- Fix by at least two independent position lines and label time, heading, speed and fix type. GNSS alone is not a pilotage fix.
- On ECDIS, verify ENC coverage, CATZOC, safety contour, route check and alarms; over-zooming does not improve survey accuracy.
- Apply COLREG by constant bearing and decreasing range, and take early substantial action.
Worked example
A vessel makes 12 kn through water and must make good track 000° across a current setting 090° at 2 kn, beam-on. To counter the eastgoing current, steer west of north by θ where sin θ = 2/12, so θ ≈ 9.6°. Heading is about 350°. Ground speed is √(12² − 2²) ≈ 11.8 kn. The reasoning is vector addition: the ship's through-water velocity must have an east component of 2 kn to cancel the current, leaving the north component as made good.
Traps
Mixing variation and deviation signs; confusing current set with drift; treating the ECDIS safety contour as a surveyed depth; and calling a crossing situation an overtaking one when the other vessel is more than 22.5° abaft the beam.