Maritime Knowledge Base
Browse questions and answers across marine machinery, merchant navy careers, shipboard operations and maritime glossary terms.
Browse by Category
Marine Machinery
Troubleshooting guides for pumps, boilers, purifiers, compressors and auxiliary systems.
Merchant Navy Careers
Questions about joining the merchant navy, exams, cadetships, ranks and sea-time.
Maritime Glossary
Plain-English definitions of shipping, engine-room, navigation and regulatory terms.
Shipboard Operations
Practical Q&A for watchkeeping, safety, maintenance routines and onboard documentation.
Results for "Hazard"
What is a permit to work (PTW) system on ships?
A permit to work is a formal written authorisation that controls hazardous, non-routine jobs by confirming the hazards are assessed and the right precautions are in place.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is a risk assessment on a ship and how is it done?
A shipboard risk assessment systematically identifies the hazards of a task, evaluates the risk and puts controls in place before the work begins.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is a near miss on a ship and why is reporting it important?
A near miss is an event that could have caused injury, damage or pollution but happened not to — reporting them lets a ship correct hazards before they cause a real accident.
Shipboard OperationsWhat safety precautions are taken for working aloft on a ship?
Working aloft — up the mast, funnel or high structures — demands a permit, a safety harness, secured tools, and control of hazards such as radar, whistle and overside work.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is a toolbox talk and when is it done?
What a toolbox talk is, when it happens before shipboard work, and how it turns the risk assessment and permit into a shared plan.
Shipboard OperationsWhat are the key steps in a safe bunkering operation?
The essentials of safe bunkering — the agreed plan and checklist, scuppers and SOPEP readiness, communication, monitoring and verifying the figures.
Merchant Navy CareersWhat are the disadvantages and challenges of a merchant navy career?
A merchant navy career has real downsides — long separation from family, isolation, demanding work and health pressures — that anyone considering it should understand.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is an inert gas system on a tanker and why is it needed?
An inert gas system fills a tanker's cargo tanks with oxygen-poor gas so the atmosphere cannot support combustion, preventing explosions in and around the cargo.
Shipboard OperationsWhat are the SOLAS lifeboat and abandon ship drill requirements?
SOLAS requires regular abandon-ship and fire drills, with musters, equipment checks and the lowering and manoeuvring of lifeboats at defined intervals.
Shipboard OperationsWhy are enclosed spaces on ships so dangerous?
Enclosed spaces kill because their atmosphere can be oxygen-deficient, toxic or flammable with no outward sign — and rescuers who rush in become the next victims.
Shipboard OperationsHow is a navigation (bridge) watch properly handed over?
A bridge watch handover requires the relieving officer to be fully oriented — position, traffic, course and dangers — before accepting the watch, and never mid-manoeuvre.
Shipboard OperationsWhat are the four stages of passage planning (appraisal, planning, execution, monitoring)?
Passage planning follows four stages — appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring — that together prepare and carry out a safe voyage from berth to berth.
Marine MachineryWhat is the emergency procedure if the steering gear fails?
Steering gear failure is a serious emergency handled by switching to the standby power unit or emergency steering and warning other ships, backed by SOLAS redundancy.
Shipboard OperationsWhat are the classes of fire and which extinguishers are used on ships?
Fires are grouped into classes by what is burning, and each class needs the right extinguishing agent — using the wrong one can be ineffective or dangerous.
Marine MachineryWhat is scavenging in a two-stroke marine engine?
Scavenging is the process of pushing the burnt exhaust gases out of a two-stroke engine cylinder and replacing them with fresh air, ready for the next combustion cycle.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is bridge resource management (BRM) and why does it matter?
Bridge resource management is the effective use of all the people, equipment and information available on the bridge to navigate safely, reduce human error and prevent accidents.
