The gyro compass fails completely while the vessel is on autopilot in a busy shipping lane. What is your immediate priority?

A. Continue on autopilot unchanged until the gyro is repaired, since the autopilot will maintain course regardless

B. Take the helm to manual/hand steering immediately using the magnetic compass as the heading reference (most autopilots depend on a gyro heading input and will not steer correctly, or at all, without it), verify the vessel's heading and course made good, inform the Master, and increase monitoring given the loss of a primary heading reference in a busy area

C. Switch immediately to ECDIS heading-up display mode as a full replacement for a working compass

D. Reduce speed to zero and wait for the fault to clear on its own before taking any other action

A. The tidal height at the time of transit to confirm sufficient under-keel clearance

B. The yacht's fuel consumption for that leg

C. The colour of the seabed shown on the chart

D. Only the distance to the next waypoint

A. Switch the ECDIS to standby mode and navigate by GPS position alone

B. Ignore it — ECDIS alarms are frequently false and can be left running

C. Assess the situation against the planned route and charted depths, take action to maintain safe water, and inform the Master if there is any doubt

D. Acknowledge and silence the alarm immediately so it does not distract the helmsman