Your forward compartment is flooded following grounding. A tug is two days away; a salvage vessel can be on scene immediately. Your examiner asks: "As Master, what is your decision?"

A. Assess current and predicted residual stability/freeboard using the damage stability information against the actual flooding observed, weigh the immediate availability of professional salvage assistance (who can begin stabilising the situation, e.g. damage control, additional pumping, controlled grounding/anchoring advice) against the deteriorating risk of waiting two days for a tug while the casualty remains in an uncertain damage condition, and engage the salvor promptly if their assessment confirms a safety benefit — balanced against commercial/contractual considerations (e.g. LOF) which must not override the safety decision.

B. Always wait for the tug regardless of the salvor's immediate availability, since tugs are inherently more capable than salvage vessels in any damage scenario.

C. The decision is purely commercial and should be left entirely to the company/charterers without the Master's independent safety judgement.

D. Immediate salvage engagement is never appropriate without prior written authorisation from the flag state in every case.

A. Raise the alarm and assess the immediate threat to propulsion/power and watertight integrity (closing relevant watertight doors, isolating affected systems), establish the extent and rate of flooding to inform pumping/counter-flooding decisions, consult the damage stability information for the engine-room-flooded case (or nearest equivalent) to predict residual freeboard/stability, and consider whether the vessel can remain self-sufficient or requires external assistance/evacuation preparation — engine room flooding is especially serious because it can simultaneously threaten propulsion, power for pumps, and stability.

B. Engine room flooding has no specific damage stability consideration distinct from any other compartment, since all compartments are treated identically.

C. The correct first action is always to abandon ship immediately on any report of engine room flooding, without further assessment.

D. Damage stability information is irrelevant once flooding has actually started; it is a design-stage document only.

A. Smaller commercial vessel codes (e.g. LY3/REG Yacht Code) generally apply a scaled-down damage stability standard appropriate to the vessel's size and passenger/crew complement — often a one-compartment standard for many vessels in this category — whereas large SOLAS cargo or passenger ships of greater size/complexity are typically required to survive flooding of two or more compartments; the standard scales with vessel size, type and consequence of loss, not a single fixed figure applied to every vessel regardless of size.

B. Damage stability standards are identical for every vessel regardless of size or code, since SOLAS makes no distinction by vessel category.

C. Smaller commercial codes generally impose a stricter (more compartments) damage stability standard than large SOLAS ships, the reverse of the general pattern.

D. The Large Yacht Code has no damage stability requirement at all, relying solely on intact stability criteria.