SET-I

1. Why deviation curve made in one hemisphere not hold good for other hemisphere
Ans. Because of vertical permanent corrector magnets for correcting heeling error is placed
only for a particular place and for any other latitude there will be heeling error.
2. Star finder? How to use it?
Ans. Star finder is used to choose suitable stars for celestial observations and for
identifying stars.
1. For morning twilight find out LMT Nautical Twilight and for evening twilight
find out LMT Civil Twilight apply LIT to get GMT and ZT to get SMT.
2. Now apply run to last known position to get DR Lat and Long from current
SMT to the SMT obtained.
3. Now from almanac get GHA Aries and apply longitude to get LHA Aries.
From DR Lat and LHA Aries go to star finder and using the correct template closest to DR Lat
choose 3-4 stars.
4. Criteria for choosing the stars should be as follows
i) Angular separation should be as close as possible to 90.
ii) Chosen stars magnitude should be low i.e. they should be bright.
iii)Altitude should be between 20-70.
For identifying stars just get the azimuth of star and calculate LHA aries and latitude is
known so use suitable template and put the pointer on LHA aries and using the azimuth find
the star.
3. Star Sight ?
Ans. 1. First we need to choose suitable stars which can be found using the Star finder.
2. For morning twilight find out LMT Nautical Twilight and for evening twilight
find out LMT Civil Twilight apply LIT to get GMT and ZT to get SMT.
3. Now apply run to last known position to get DR Lat and Long from current
SMT to the SMT obtained.
4. Now from almanac get GHA Aries and apply longitude to get LHA Aries.
From DR Lat and LHA Aries go to star finder and using the correct template closest to DR Lat
choose 3-4 stars.

Prepared By- Abhishek Jha

5. Criteria for choosing the stars should be as follows

i) Angular separation should be as close as possible to 90.
ii) Chosen stars magnitude should be low i.e. they should be bright.
5. Altitude should be between 20-70.
6. Now for morning sight start with the stars on eastern horizon as they will disappear
from horizon first, take the altitude and azimuth note down the time for all the stars,
for evening sight we will have to set the sextant at obtained altitude and azimuth
from star finder for stars on eastern horizon as the eastern horizon will disappear
first.
7. Use 3 stars for plotting purpose. Apply run to the obtained PL using Intercept to
nearest hour. Point of intersection of the PLs would be your position.

4. As a mate how will u ensure ETA requirement for bulk carriers?

Ans. By ensuring that the Emergency Towing Booklet is in correct position and showing
correct details.
5. ETA deployment and requirements as per what on your last vessel?
Ans. My last ship was Bulk Carrier requirement says that the ships other than tankers
should have an ETB which should contain:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Drawing of the layout of forward and aft towing arrangement.

List of spares and equipments to be used for towing.
Communication Procedures.
Towing connections and procedures.

Requirement for the ETB was of 3 such booklets with each copy placed at a specific
location (Bridge, Ships office & Forecastle) with one copy in Company office which could
be utilised by them in case of emergency.
6. Ice navigation precautions?
Ans. Following precautions required while navigating in Ice,
1. Gyro and Magnetic compass would be in-operational. Use of Inertial Navigation
System in high latitudes.

Prepared By- Abhishek Jha

2. Mercator charts not suitable for the use so use of Orthomorphic charts is advisable,
and coz the seafarers are used to Mercator charts we need special training for the
use of orthomorphic projection.
3. As the weather is very cold, all cold weather precautions should be in place. With
sufficient amount of provision and water considering the possibility of a long port
stay.
4. Fragile environmental conditions, so absolutely no dumping of garbage in higher
latitudes.
5. Ice bergs pose a serious threat to the ships, so a continuous monitoring of weather
reports via EGC, weather facsimile or Navtex, VHF to be done.
6. Lack of repair facilities in the region, so all outstanding issues must be rectified
before arrival in High latitudes.
7. Lack of navigational aids in the area, use of RADAR becomes important.
8. Position fixing can be done with GPS as its service is available throughout the globe.
In case of failure Bubble sextant can be used but the observations cannot be made
with bodies quite high it could be as low as 10.
9. Lack of reliability of navigational information. So use of echo sounders should be
trusted more.
10. With continuous day and night biggest problem is with the biological cycle to be
adjusted so the crew should be briefed well in advance.

7. Ship Routing guide?

Ans. Ships Routing guide- IMO approved TSS around the world, Alternative routing
measures- Two way lanes, precautionary areas, recommended routes & special routes,
Archipelagic sea lanes, Mandatory Ship Reporting systems, Areas to be avoided, Deep water
routes, Associated rules and regulations.
8. Polaris sight calculation a0, a1 and a2 corrections?
Ans. Polaris is a peculiar star very near to NCP and its declination is about 8910N so by
applying small corrections to it we can very easily get the observed latitude. And a0, a1 and
a2 are these minor corrections applied to true altitude all additive and finally subtracted by
1 to obtain observed altitude. The value of corrections are based on assumptions
a0 - Tabulated against LHA Aries- Assumption on SHA Polaris 32739- addnl 58.8 in corrn
a1 - Tabulated against Latitude- Assumption on Latitude to be 50 N- addnl 0.6 in corrn
a2 - Tabulated against Dec- Assumption on Dec Polaris 899.5N- addnl 0.6 in corrn

Prepared By- Abhishek Jha

9. What all are the correctors used onboard?

Ans.

1. Flinder bars
2. Quadrantal Spheres
3. Permanent vertical magnet correctors.
4. Fwd/Aft permanent magnet.
5. Athwartship permanent magnet correctors.

10. How will use correctors for correcting?

Ans.

1. Flinder bars- Placed in the fore and plane of the ship to correct for coefficient iB.
2. Quadrantal Spheres- Placed in athwart ship plane to correct for coefficient D

3. Permanent vertical magnet correctors- Placed below compass card to correct for
heeling error.
4. Fwd/Aft permanent magnet- Placed below the compass in F/A plane to correct for
coefficient PB. For +PB red end placed forward, they are placed in multiple rows with
distance between each corrector in each row twice their length.
5. Athwart ship permanent magnet correctors- Placed below the compass in Athwart
ship plane to correct for coefficient PC. For +PC red end placed to stbd, they are placed in
multiple rows with distance between each corrector in each row twice their length.
11. Range of light of mine clearance vsl, light of trawler ranges (annex 2 & rule 22).
Ans. A) For Mine clearance vessels and trawlers
1. 50 m or more in length range of lights NLTMasthead lights: 6 NM
Sidelights: 3 NM
Sternlight: 3 NM
All round lights: 3 NM
2. Less than 50 m in length but more than 12 m range of lights NLTMasthead lights: 5 NM (more than 20 m in length) 3 NM (less than 20 but more than
12m)
Sidelights: 2 NM

Prepared By- Abhishek Jha

Sternlight: 2 NM
All round lights: 2 NM
3. Less than 12 m in length range of lights NLTMasthead lights: 2 NM
Sidelights: 1 NM
Sternlight: 2 NM
All round lights: 2 NM
B) Additionally as per Annex 2 of ROR for Trawlers, the lights displayed should be
complying with following
1. It should be placed a distance NLT 0.9 m from the all round lights.
2. It should be placed at a level lower than the all round lights.
3. There visibility should not be less than 1 NM but NMT the all round lights.

12. Synoptic Charts?

Ans. Weather charts representing the actual weather situation.
13. Weather routing, how will use prognosis charts.
Ans. Weather routing is based on the predicted weather in the area, and prognosis chart
provides exactly that. So prognosis chart i.e. predicted weather is used to calculate ships
route considering the prevailing weather expected in the region.
14. Who prepares prognosis charts?
Ans. Prognosis charts are prepared by the meteorologists and the weather experts sitting in
the met offices which can be found from ALRS Volume 4.

Prepared By- Abhishek Jha