Question 1

The Master is designing watch and duty rotations for a short-handed passage and realises the rotation, as planned, would regularly leave only one qualified officer available to fill both competent person and authorising officer roles. What is the Master's responsibility here?

Accepted Answer

Redesign the rotation or arrange additional qualified cover before the passage, rather than relying on ad hoc workarounds once the conflict arises at sea A foreseeable structural conflict identified during planning should be designed out before the passage, not left to be improvised around once at sea under operational pressure.

Question 2

A cadet is told a hot work permit was issued "this morning" and asks the bosun how long it's valid for, without checking the form itself. What is the maximum validity period a permit to work can have?

Accepted Answer

24 hours from issue, with any shorter job-specific time limits also stated on the permit COSWP Chapter 14 sets 24 hours as the maximum validity period a permit can be issued for, with any further job-specific time limits stated on the permit itself.

Question 3

An OOW taking over the watch finds a permit for overside work was issued 20 hours ago and the job is still running. The outgoing OOW says it's "basically the same job, don't worry about it." What should the new OOW do?

Accepted Answer

Check elapsed time against the 24-hour limit, recognise it's close to expiry, and flag to the authorising officer that revalidation will be needed rather than letting it lapse unnoticed A permit approaching its validity limit needs proactive attention at handover, not passive monitoring — the new OOW's job is to flag it to the authorising officer before it lapses, not to wait for it to expire.