Maritime Knowledge Base
Browse questions and answers across marine machinery, merchant navy careers, shipboard operations and maritime glossary terms.
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Marine Machinery
Troubleshooting guides for pumps, boilers, purifiers, compressors and auxiliary systems.
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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 "SOLAS"
What is SOLAS?
SOLAS explained — the IMO's most important safety convention and the areas of ship safety it governs.
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.
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 is a muster list on a ship?
A muster list is the SOLAS-required document that assigns every crew member their duties and muster station for each emergency, and sets out the alarm signals.
Shipboard OperationsWhat are safe pilot boarding arrangements and pilot ladder requirements?
Pilot boarding arrangements must let a pilot get on and off a moving ship safely, chiefly by a correctly rigged pilot ladder meeting SOLAS requirements, attended by an officer.
Maritime GlossaryWhat does STCW mean?
STCW explained — the international convention that sets minimum training, certification and watchkeeping standards for seafarers worldwide.
Shipboard OperationsWhat must be checked before enclosed space entry?
The core precautions before entering an enclosed space — atmosphere testing, permit, ventilation, standby and communications — because these spaces still kill seafarers.
Shipboard OperationsHow do I prepare for a Port State Control inspection?
How to be ready for Port State Control — certificates, drills, maintenance evidence and housekeeping — so a routine inspection does not become a detention.
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.
Marine MachineryHow do you recover from a blackout (total loss of electrical power)?
A blackout is the total loss of electrical power on a ship — recovery depends on the emergency generator, restarting the main plant and restoring services in the right order.
Merchant Navy CareersWhat are the four STCW basic safety training courses?
Before joining a ship, every seafarer must complete STCW basic safety training — four short courses covering survival, firefighting, first aid and personal safety.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is the abandon ship procedure and when is it ordered?
Abandoning ship is the last resort when a vessel can no longer be saved — it follows a drilled sequence of muster, boarding survival craft and summoning rescue.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is the correct enclosed space rescue procedure?
Enclosed space rescue must never be attempted by rushing in — it demands raising the alarm and using a trained team with breathing apparatus and retrieval equipment.
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 MachineryHow does a marine air compressor work and why is it needed?
A marine air compressor squeezes air in stages to high pressure and stores it in receivers, chiefly to provide the starting air that turns large diesel engines over.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is a gyrocompass and how does it differ from a magnetic compass?
A gyrocompass is a navigation instrument that uses a fast-spinning gyroscope to find and hold true north, unaffected by the ship's magnetism, providing a true heading to the ship's systems.
Marine MachineryHow does a ship's steering gear work?
The steering gear is the powered hydraulic machinery that turns the rudder in response to helm orders from the bridge, using rams or rotary vanes driven by pumps.
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.
Shipboard OperationsHow does a fixed CO2 flooding fire-extinguishing system work?
A fixed CO2 system extinguishes a fire in a protected space such as the engine room by flooding it with carbon dioxide, which displaces the oxygen the fire needs — after everyone is evacuated.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is a Safety Management System (SMS) on a ship?
A Safety Management System is the documented set of policies and procedures, required by the ISM Code, by which a company manages the safe operation of its ships and prevention of pollution.
