Marine Engineering Systems and Control: Machinery, Steering and Emissions
What this domain tests
Chief mate level engineering knowledge: propulsion and auxiliary plant, steering gear requirements, fuel and boiler treatment, pollution-prevention equipment, and the automation that lets a ship run unmanned machinery spaces.
Core rules
- Two-stroke slow-speed engines drive the propeller directly; four-stroke medium-speed engines normally drive through reduction gearing.
- SOLAS II-1: steering gear must move the rudder from 35° one side to 35° the other at maximum ahead service speed, and from 35° to 30° in not more than 28 s. Emergency steering drills every three months; emergency steering tested within 12 h before departure.
- Fuel flashpoint at least 60°C (43°C for emergency generator fuel).
- MARPOL Annex I: bilge discharge through 15 ppm equipment with an alarm that automatically stops the discharge.
- MARPOL Annex VI: 0.50% sulphur globally, 0.10% in designated ECAs; NOx Tier III in NOx ECAs.
- UMS: alarm and safety systems, dead-man alarm, and machinery alarms transferred to the bridge and engineer's cabins.
Worked example
Main engine MCR 8,000 kW, SFOC 175 g/kWh, running at 80% MCR: 8,000 × 0.80 = 6,400 kW; 6,400 × 175 = 1,120,000 g/h = 1.12 t/h, so 26.9 t/day. For an 18-day passage, expect about 484 t consumed; compare that with ROB plus a reserve before accepting the voyage plan.
Traps
- Mixing g/kWh with kg/h and losing a factor of 1,000.
- Quoting the global 0.50% sulphur limit inside an ECA.
- Recording a steering gear test without the time and result in the log and bridge checklists.
- Assuming an OWS alarm can be muted or that dilution of bilges is acceptable.