Pass the OOW oral.
Everything for the MCA OOW (Yachts <3000 GT) oral examination in one place: 23 study modules built from primary official sources — SOLAS, COLREGS, STCW, MARPOL, MGN 315 — and an AI examiner to drill you on them.
Sitting the classroom modules soon? Learn each module's core method before you go.
Speak your answers and hear the replies — an AI examiner and a Socratic tutor, both grounded in the 23 study modules.
OOW Oral Exam Coach
Mock oral exams with an AI examiner. One question at a time, graded against the syllabus — coaches you to the right answer with the source regulation named.
OOW Tutor
Learn concept by concept. Pick one rule or topic, answer by microphone and hear the Tutor guide you through it Socratically.
Self-marking practice — no AI, no waiting: flip-cards, quizzes and generated problems checked instantly with the working shown.
Flashcards & Quiz
Drill buoyage, COLREGS lights, sound signals, and flags until the answer is instant. Flip-cards plus a self-marking quiz.
Model Answers
Examiner questions with spoken-standard answers and the follow-up chains that come next. Answer aloud first, then compare.
Calculation Drills
Infinite generated problems, marked with full worked solutions — compass error, course to steer, height of tide, GM and free surface.
Animated simulators — learn by doing. Each tool puts you in the scenario and shows the consequence of the wrong call.
Meteorology Suite
Drag your ship through a depression on the synoptic chart, escape a TRS, work local winds and fog, read a barograph trace.
Depression · TRS · Local Winds · Fog · Barograph
Emergency Simulator
Work through 8 emergency scenarios. Choose wrong and the diagram shows what happens. Aim for zero errors.
MOB · Fire · Grounding · Flooding · 4 more
Stability Visualiser
Move sliders for fuel, free surface, and ballast. Watch GM change live and see the vessel loll when it goes negative.
GM · GZ Curve · FSE · Loll
Passage Planning Builder
Work all four SOLAS V/34 stages in order. The UKC table shows exactly why the shallowest leg fails — and what to do about it.
Appraisal · UKC · Execution · Monitoring
SAR Pattern Visualiser
Animate all 5 IAMSAR search patterns. Set track spacing and watch coverage fill. Drift moves the datum mid-search.
SS · VS · PS · CS · TL · Drift · POD
Radar & ARPA Trainer
Solve the plotting triangle on a live radar PPI. Set your PI line with the slider and see whether the mark clears it.
Plotting Triangle · CPA/TCPA · Parallel Indexing
Oral exam study notes
23 modules covering the complete MCA syllabus, each with oral practice questions and model answers. Each opens as a print-ready reference sheet — use Ctrl/Cmd+P to save as PDF.
Who is the OOW?
Role, responsibilities, lookout, calling the Master, watch handover, restricted visibility, anchor watch, rest hours.
Passage Planning
SOLAS Reg 34, four stages, publications, UKC, ocean / coastal / pilotage planning, monitoring.
COLREGS
Steering and sailing rules, vessel hierarchy, lights, shapes, sound signals, distress signals.
ECDIS
ENC vs RCDS, carriage requirements, limitations, alarms, backup arrangements.
What-If Emergencies
MOB, collision, grounding, flooding, steering failure, blackout, fire, receiving a distress.
ISM & ISPS
ISM Code, SMS, DPA, DOC, SMC, Flag & Port State Control, ISPS security levels, LY3.
MARPOL
Six annexes, Annex I oil discharge rules, Annex V garbage, ECAs, SOPEP, pollution reporting.
LSA & Fire
Fire classes, extinguishing agents, fixed systems, EPIRB, SART, immersion suits, drills, abandon ship.
Radar & ARPA
Principles, S-band vs X-band, modes, limitations, sources of error, ARPA, parallel indexing.
AIS
Principles, carriage requirements, data transmitted, Class A vs B, limitations, navigational status codes.
Chartwork & Navigation
Position fixing, variation and deviation, compass courses, tidal calculations, Notices to Mariners, sextant.
IALA Buoyage & Compass
Region A vs B, lateral marks, cardinal marks, special marks, gyro compass, magnetic compass errors.
Manoeuvring
Propeller effects, twin screw handling, wind and current, squat and interaction, anchoring, mooring lines.
Pilot & GMDSS
Pilot responsibilities, pilot card, boarding arrangements, GMDSS sea areas, equipment, Mayday procedure.
Stability & Heavy Weather
GM, righting lever, free surface effect, freeboard, watertight integrity, heavy weather preparation.
COSWP · Publications · Salvage · MLC
Code of Safe Working Practices, MSNs/MGNs/MINs, salvage law, MLC 2006, crew agreements.
Meteorology
Met instruments, pressure systems, fronts, Buys Ballot's Law, Beaufort scale, TRS avoidance, fog types, weather broadcasts (NAVTEX, SafetyNet, Weatherfax).
SAR & IAMSAR
IAMSAR Vol III, MRCC/OSC roles, duty to render assistance, search patterns, assisting disabled vessels and ditched aircraft, helicopter operations.
Towing, Ice & Special Operations
Taking a vessel in tow, being towed, ice navigation, ice accretion, watertight doors, load line marks, steering gear testing and failure.
Surveys, Casualty Reporting & H&S
MAIB reporting, Official Log Book, statutory and classification surveys, improvement and prohibition notices, risk assessment, SOLAS training manual.
Bridge Equipment, VTS, Damage Stability & Engineering Watch
Echo sounder, course recorder, NAVTEX message types, VTS services and OOW duties, damage stability and flooding response, UMS engineering watch, advanced anchoring.
Anchoring, Mooring & Yacht Operations
The anchoring evolution, anchor watch and dragging, mooring lines and snap-back, Med mooring, berthing in wind, tender and helicopter operations.
General Ship Knowledge & Construction
Hull structure and terminology, materials, watertight subdivision, load line and draught marks, tonnage vs displacement, rudders and propellers, sea inlets, corrosion and anodes.
Note: These notes cover the MCA OOW (Yachts less than 3000 GT) oral examination syllabus as published by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, drawn from primary official sources. They are a study aid — verify the currency of all regulations before your oral examination. Remember your completed Training Record Book must be presented to the examiner at the oral — the official MCA TRB is downloadable from the logbook page.