During your watch on the bridge the steering gear fails. The helm becomes unresponsive. Describe your immediate actions and how you initiate emergency steering from the steering gear room.

A. STEERING FAILURE — IMMEDIATE ACTIONS AND EMERGENCY STEERING TRANSFER: BRIDGE IMMEDIATE ACTIONS: (1) ENGAGE AUTO-PILOT BACKUP: try alternative steering mode (many bridges have a second control unit); (2) SOUND ALARM: sound two short blasts and one long blast (signal in confined waters to warn nearby traffic); (3) NOTIFY ENGINE ROOM: "Engine room, bridge — steering failure, stand by for emergency manoeuvre"; (4) REDUCE SPEED: slow engines to reduce risk while steering is out; (5) APPLY VHF: inform nearby traffic and VTS of steering failure (PAN PAN if in restricted waters); (6) NOTIFY MASTER. EMERGENCY STEERING PROCEDURE: (a) Send duty officer or AB to steering gear room; (b) Steering gear room officer: (i) switches to Local (Hydraulic Manual) control — isolates bridge control; (ii) Controls steering manually using the local steering stand; (iii) Communicates with bridge by portable VHF; (c) Bridge gives helm orders verbally to steering gear room: "Hard to starboard / Hard to port"; (d) SOLAS V/26 — must be tested in this mode in the 12 hours before departure; (e) The officer in steering gear room must know the emergency manual operation including: switching to non-follow-up control, individual pump selection, and manual bypass if hydraulic system fails. DOCUMENTATION: log the failure, emergency steering time, tests conducted, repairs made.

B. Call the port and request a tug immediately. Steering failure requires emergency tug assistance and the bridge cannot take any independent action to control the vessel until tug makes fast.

C. Use engine movements to steer the vessel. A twin-screw vessel can be steered using differential throttle and does not need to activate emergency steering.

D. Continue on autopilot. If the main steering has failed, the autopilot will automatically compensate and maintain the course — no manual intervention is needed.

A. BRIDGE ENGINE REMOTE CONTROL — PRINCIPLES AND TESTING: OPERATING PRINCIPLE: Modern vessels have a telegraph system that allows the bridge to command propulsion from three positions: (1) Bridge wing (port and starboard); (2) Bridge centre console (primary); (3) Engine room local control (manual override). The system typically uses an electronic or electro-pneumatic telegraph — the bridge moves the telegraph lever and the engine room control room (or automated system) responds with matching engine movement. REMOTE CONTROL TYPES: (a) Bridge full control: bridge moves engine telegraph → ECR or UMS system automatically adjusts fuel injection, ahead/astern valve, and RPM; (b) Telegraphed control: bridge signals intention, engine room carries out manually; (c) CPP (Controllable Pitch Propeller): blade pitch changes rather than engine RPM — bridge pitch lever directly adjusts thrust. PRE-DEPARTURE TEST: (1) Notify engine room of impending test; (2) Test both bridge wing controls and centre console — move telegraph full range ahead/stop/astern; (3) Confirm ECR repeater matches bridge telegraph position; (4) Test emergency stop function; (5) Confirm steering gear tested (SOLAS V/26 — 12 hours before departure); (6) Log all tests with times; (7) Confirm with chief engineer "engines ready for manoeuvring."

B. Bridge engine control is tested only at drydock. Between drydocks, the engineer officer of the watch is solely responsible for engine operations and the chief mate has no role in engine testing.

C. The bridge telegraph is advisory only. The engine room carries out all engine movements independently — the bridge telegraph is a communication tool, not a control system.

D. Engine testing before departure is done by increasing to full ahead for 5 minutes then stopping. Other tests are the chief engineer's responsibility and are covered by the SMS.

A. UMS ALARM — BRIDGE OOW/CHIEF MATE RESPONSIBILITIES: UMS BACKGROUND: SOLAS II-1/46-54 and the UMS Code (MSC/Circ.645) allow machinery spaces to be operated without continuous manning when the vessel meets prescribed equipment and alarm standards. The engineer is on call, not in the machinery space. OOW BRIDGE ACTIONS ON UMS ALARM: (1) ACKNOWLEDGE the alarm on the bridge alarm panel — this stops the audible alarm but keeps the visual; (2) RECORD: alarm type, time, and acknowledge time in the logbook; (3) CONTACT the duty engineer officer — give the alarm description and location; (4) MONITOR the alarm: if a second alarm follows rapidly (cascade alarms), or if a HIGH PRIORITY alarm activates (blackout, main engine shutdown, steering failure) — take immediate navigational action as appropriate; (5) DO NOT SILENCE AND IGNORE: the alarm system requires that alarms are responded to — an unresponded-to alarm triggers escalation to the next person on the call list; (6) HIGH PRIORITY ALARMS: main engine slowdown/shutdown → notify master, consider navigational implications (vessel now drifting or under reduced power); (7) Document all alarms, response times, and engineer actions taken in the UMS alarm log. CHIEF MATE UNDERSTANDING: must know which alarms require navigational response vs engineering response.

B. All UMS alarms are exclusively the duty engineer's responsibility. The bridge OOW should silence the alarm and wait for the engineer to respond — there is no bridge action required.

C. Wake the master for every UMS alarm. Only the master has authority to decide whether a UMS alarm requires action at night — the OOW should not make this assessment.

D. UMS alarms can be safely ignored for 30 minutes before escalation. The engineer's call response time is 30 minutes under SOLAS and the OOW should not contact the engineer before this period expires.