Question 1

A salvage tug arrives 5 hours after grounding. The salvage master boards and immediately presents a Lloyd's Open Form (LOF) for the Master's signature. He says: "Sign this now and we can start work immediately. The tide window is 90 minutes." The company DPA has not yet been reached — phone lines are intermittent.

What should the Master do?

Accepted Answer

Do not sign the LOF without company authority. Attempt to reach the DPA or P&I Club by every available means including Inmarsat C or satellite phone. If the DPA cannot be reached in the time available and the Master judges the immediate danger sufficient, he may sign under "imminent peril" — but only as a last resort and with full documentation of his reasoning and attempts to contact owners LOF is a "no cure, no pay" contract — it is not a routine document. Signing commits the owner to potentially enormous salvage awards adjudicated at Lloyd's. The Master has authority to sign in cases of imminent peril without owner consent, but the "90-minute window" pressure is a classic salvage negotiation tactic. The correct position: attempt to contact DPA/P&I by every means (satellite, SSB radio, email) and document every attempt with timestamps. If genuinely unable and danger is immediate, sign and document. Never sign under casual time pressure without attempting contact. SCOPIC cannot simply be substituted for LOF without owner consent either.

Question 2

MV CEDAR RIDGE, 0215. You are the OOW. The engine telegraph is set at full ahead. You notice the RPM repeater on the bridge has dropped from 98 to 74 RPM over the last 4 minutes without any engine room call. Visibility 2nm. Headland 9nm to the west. Set/drift pushing the vessel 1.5 knots toward the headland.

What is your immediate priority?

Accepted Answer

Call the Master immediately and simultaneously ring the engine room to report the loss of RPM. Do not wait to investigate further — you are approaching a headland in reduced visibility with a set toward it and your speed is unexpectedly reducing SOLAS V and standard BRM require the Master to be called for any change that may affect the safe navigation of the vessel — and a loss of power approaching a headland in restricted visibility with an adverse set is exactly that situation. The instinct to "investigate before disturbing the Master" is a dangerous normalisation: the Master cannot make informed decisions if he is called 10 minutes late. Call Master AND engine room simultaneously. The course alteration alone solves nothing if the engine is failing.

Question 3

Before the Master or engine room responds, at 0217 a total blackout occurs. All navigation lights, radar, ECDIS, and steering control lose power simultaneously. The emergency lighting activates. The vessel is now at 8nm from the headland, making approximately 8 knots on momentum. No response from the engine room.

What is the FIRST thing you do?

Accepted Answer

Sound the general alarm immediately to muster all crew. Make a SECURITÉ broadcast on VHF Ch.16 to warn other traffic that you are a vessel not under command. Attempt to raise the engine room by telephone. Sound the NUC sound signals (2 prolonged blasts) In a blackout the immediate priority is collision avoidance — you are a vessel not under command and traffic cannot see you. General alarm alerts crew; NUC signals (COLREGS Rule 35e: 2 prolonged blasts in restricted visibility) warn other vessels; SECURITÉ on Ch.16 provides situational awareness to the traffic picture. Manual steering is irrelevant without propulsion. Leaving the bridge to investigate the generator is a solo action that abandons the conn at the most critical moment. The emergency generator will start automatically — your job is collision avoidance and crew muster.