Study notes for merchant navy and superyacht deck officers to help them on their journey towards becoming successful masters.
About TheMasterMariner.com
The mission of this site is to help professional mariners to succeed in their roles and responsibilities as accomplished Mates and Masters.
I aim to achieve this by breaking the STCW A-II/2 Master Unlimited competencies into topics..
The topics are explored and condensed into single bite-sized questions and answers.
***
STCW A-II/2 from an international perspective
Each subject under the STCW syllabus is treated from an international perspective.
This means that the content here will draw primarily from international maritime conventions and instruments, particularly those of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
I leave it to the reader’s own diligence to determine how these instruments are conveyed into the domestic requirements of their national administrations.
***
STCW A-II/2 in question-and-answer style
Active students of the sea do not have time to read long, dry articles on the requirements of maritime conventions, so I have made the material as concise as possible.
The topic modules are explored in question-and-answer format, a style which will be familiar to many within the industry, particularly those deck officers who have been assessed orally in their careers.
You can find an overview of the topics dealt with on this site on the STCW A-II/2 syllabus.
***
About me
I first went to the sea at 19 as a cadet with the Conway Merchant Navy Trust.
Upon gaining my second mate’s licence, I was employed by BP and whisked off on an LNG carrier before ending up on a DP shuttle tanker off the windy Shetland Islands.
A few years later, I moved into the growing superyacht industry. I was given the position, and my career took off in a different direction. Since then, I have worked on the industry’s largest superyachts and cruise ships.
From 2014-2016 and 2018, I worked as a Port State Control Trainer/Assessor and ISM auditor with Maritime New Zealand.
For three years from 2020 to 2023, I was an Advisor with the Pacific Maritime Safety Programme. This was NZ’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade initiative to help the governments of the Pacific Islands (Tokelau, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Kiribati and Tonga) improve their national maritime safety systems. My principle role was project manager for the Manu Folau Repair Project.
I am a maritime author, and my books can be found here on Witherby’s (my publisher’s) website.
I presently work as an advisor with the Pacific Maritime Safety Programme, which is sponsored by New Zealand’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
My role ws to promote safety for domestic shipping by working with governments and maritime regulators in the south Pacific.
I now run my own consultancy and provide maritime safety and compliance service under my company Mariner House Ltd.
Please reach out via LinkedIn if you need to contact me.
***
Thank you for visiting this site, and good luck with your journey.
Gerard
Our Terms of Use can be found here.