Apprentice Mate of Towing Vessels, Revision & Practice Exams

What is the period of validity of a Safety Management Certificate?

1. 60 months ✓
2. 48 months
3. 42 months
4. 36 months

Small floes of rough, hummocky sea ice are capable of damaging a vessel. Which statement is TRUE?

1. They are indistinguishable from sea return on the PPI
2. The floes are usually seen at night before they are close enough to provide a radar echo
3. The floes are invisible to radar when covered with a thick layer of snow
4. They can usually be detected by radar in a smooth sea at a range of 2 to 4 miles ✓

Which document lists all the lifesaving equipment required for a vessel?

1. Certificate of Registry
2. International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea Certificate
3. American Bureau of Shipping Classification Certificate
4. Certificate of Inspection ✓

Which action has a tendency to happen to a vessel proceeding along the bank of a river or channel with steep banks?

1. The vessel will increase speed
2. The vessel will continue in line with the bank
3. The vessel will sheer away from the bank ✓
4. The vessel will hug the bank

While on cargo watch, you notice one of the containers of Class 1 explosive materials has been damaged and some of the contents has leaked onto the deck. In accordance with U.S. regulations what actions must be taken?

1. Repairs can be made onboard by the crew as long as the vessel remains in port
2. The incident must be reported to the stevedore and repairs can be done on the vessel
3. Contents may be set aside until it is convenient to offload them
4. The Master must report the incident to the COTP as soon as practical ✓

Your cargo vessel is transiting pirate waters with a temporary security team onboard. The ship has been attacked and starts sinking. The decision has been made to abandon ship. During the muster, the security force leader is determined to be missing. What initial action should be taken?

1. Presume the security force leader is staying behind to defend the ship
2. Designate a crew member to search for the security force leader ✓
3. Designate a security team member to search for the security force leader
4. Presume the security force leader was killed in action

What quality of a diesel fuel is most significant for efficient combustion?

1. Volatility ✓
2. Flash point
3. Specific heat
4. Viscosity

You are fighting a class "B" fire with a portable dry chemical extinguisher. How should the discharge be directed?

1. Aimed to bank off a bulkhead onto the fire
2. At the main body of the fire
3. At the seat of the fire, starting at the near edge ✓
4. Over the top of the fire

Which of the following best defines the term "chock"?

1. A deck fitting used to secure mooring lines
2. A sharp block of wood used to support hygroscopic cargo
3. A casting fitted at the side of a deck used as a fairlead ✓
4. A smoke pipe from the galley stove

How does good housekeeping prevent fires on a vessel?

1. Allowing better access in an emergency
2. Eliminating trip hazards
3. Improving personnel qualifications
4. Eliminating potential fuel sources ✓

Why: Fire needs fuel, heat, and oxygen. Good housekeeping removes accumulated trash, oily rags, and spilled flammables, the fuel side of the fire triangle, so ignition sources have nothing to start on.

When discharging a portable CO2 fire extinguisher, why must you grasp the hose handle and NOT the discharge horn?

1. The discharge horn becomes extremely hot
2. The horn is placed directly in the flames
3. The discharge horn becomes extremely cold ✓
4. The horn could come off in your hands

Which term describes the geometric center of the underwater volume of a vessel?

1. Center of gravity
2. Tipping center
3. Center of buoyancy ✓
4. Center of flotation

What is the objective of shoring a damaged bulkhead?

1. To support and hold the area in the damaged position ✓
2. To make a watertight seal at the damaged area
3. To force the warped, bulged, or deformed sections back into place
4. To withstand subsequent additional damage

When water is used to fight a fire on board a ship, the effect of the weight of the water must be taken into account. How much sea water will increase the weight displacement by one ton?

1. 64 cubic feet
2. 35 cubic feet ✓
3. 100 gallons
4. 500 liters

When flammable liquids are handled in a compartment on a vessel, which is TRUE concerning the ventilation for that area?

1. It should be operated continuously while vapors may be present ✓
2. It should be available on standby for immediate use
3. It should be shut down if an explosive mixture is present
4. It should be only operated intermittently to remove vapors

Which statement concerning the sources of drinking water is FALSE?

1. Fresh water may be collected from condensation inside the liferaft.
2. Lifeboat covers or canopies should be washed with rain before drinking water is collected.
3. Seawater should never be consumed.
4. Fresh water may be obtained from fish. ✓

A List of Lights entry (L Fl) is a single flashing light which shows a long flash of not less than which duration?

1. 1.0 second duration
2. 1.5 seconds duration
3. 2.0 seconds duration ✓
4. 3.0 seconds duration

Why: A long flash (L Fl) is defined as a flash of not less than 2 seconds duration, distinguishing it from an ordinary flash, which is shorter.

Which is the difference between the DR position and a fix, both of which have the same time?

1. Leeway
2. Variation
3. Deviation
4. Current ✓

When utilizing a Pacific Coast chart, which is the reference plane of soundings?

1. Mean low water springs
2. Mean lower low water ✓
3. Lowest normal low water
4. Mean lowest water

Which is the region containing 3/4 of the mass of the atmosphere and to which are confined such phenomena as clouds, storms, precipitation and changing weather conditions?

1. The tropopause
2. The troposphere ✓
3. The stratopause
4. The stratosphere

Why: The troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, contains about three quarters of its mass and nearly all its water vapor, so clouds, precipitation, storms, and changing weather occur there.

Entering a harbor, you take a bearing on a range and get 338° per gyrocompass (pgc). The true bearing from the chart is 340°T. Variation for the area is 14°E. Your course is 329° per standard magnetic compass (psc) and 338°pgc. What is the deviation on this heading?

1. 3°E
2. 3°W ✓
3. 5°E
4. 5°W

All of the following can be found on a Pilot Chart EXCEPT information concerning which item?

1. Percentage of frequency of wave heights
2. Amounts of precipitation ✓
3. Percentage of poor visibility conditions
4. Sea surface temperatures

When within 300 miles of a named tropical storm or hurricane, it is standard practice to send weather reports at which time interval?

1. Every hour
2. Every 8 hours
3. Every 6 hours
4. Every 3 hours ✓

How often is The Local Notice to Mariners updated?

1. Usually monthly
2. Usually daily
3. Usually weekly ✓
4. Usually semiannually

While navigating in fog off a coastline of steep cliffs, you hear the echo of the ships foghorn 2 1/2 seconds after the signal was sounded. What is the distance to the shore?

1. 225 yards
2. 460 yards ✓
3. 750 yards
4. 910 yards

In some river mouths and estuaries, the incoming high-tide wave crest overtakes the preceding low-tide trough. This results in a wall of water proceeding upstream. Which term describes this occurrence?

1. Surge
2. Boundary wave
3. Seiche
4. Bore ✓

Under the U.S. Aids to Navigation System, which category is a yellow buoy?

1. A safe water buoy
2. A special mark ✓
3. A cardinal mark
4. A junction buoy

What is the equivalent of 10 min. 52 sec. in arc units?

1. 0°47'
2. 1°12'
3. 2°43' ✓
4. 3°52'

What must the owner or Master do if any of the towing vessel's required navigational safety equipment fails during a voyage?

1. Repair it at the earliest practicable time
2. Enter its failure in the log or other on-board record
3. Consider the state of the equipment in deciding whether it is safe for the vessel to proceed
4. All of the above ✓

When compared to air temperature, which factor is most useful in predicting fog?

1. Barometric pressure
2. Absolute humidity
3. Vapor pressure
4. Dew point ✓

Which theoretical minimum number of measurements from satellites does a GPS receiver need in order to provide an exact three-dimensional position?

1. Five
2. Four ✓
3. Three
4. Two

When does the effects of priming of the tides occur?

1. When the Earth, Moon, and Sun are lying approximately on the same line
2. When the Moon is between new and first quarter and between full and third quarter ✓
3. When the Moon is between first quarter and full and between third quarter and new
4. At times of new and full Moon

When the period of beam seas equals the natural rolling period of a vessel, what will most likely occur?

1. Excessive rolling ✓
2. Excessive yawing
3. Excessive pitching
4. No change should be evident

In safety and risk assessment, what two factors are used to evaluate a hazard's risk?

1. Probability of getting disciplined and forbearance of failing to file a report
2. Forbearance of the possible consequences and improbability of occurrence
3. Improbability of being caught and forbearance of failing to file a report
4. Severity of the possible consequences and probability of occurrence ✓

What should you inspect to be sure that it is safe to go aloft in a bosun's chair?

1. The gantline
2. The chair and bridle
3. The tail block
4. All of the above ✓

How should a vessel spotted at 45° relative be reported?

1. 4 points abaft the starboard beam
2. On the starboard beam
3. 4 points forward of starboard bow
4. Broad on the starboard bow ✓

How should a vessel that is being assisted by an icebreaker indicate that it is ready to cast off the towline (if one is used)?

1. Display code numeral "5"
2. Sound one prolonged blast of the whistle
3. Sound five short blasts of his whistle
4. Display the code letter "Y" (Yankee) ✓

Your vessel is being assisted through an ice field in Thunder Bay by the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Alexander Henry. The starboard lookout reports that the icebreaker has run up the code flag "N" (November). Which action should you take?

1. Reduce speed
2. Reverse your engines
3. Stop your vessel instantly
4. Stop your engines ✓

Severe exposure to chlorine gas can be fatal. Chlorine gas is primarily a __________.

1. respiratory irritant ✓
2. blood poisoning agent
3. nerve paralyzing irritant
4. skin burning agent

According to the Lifesaving regulations in Subchapter W, fire and abandon ship drills must be held within 24 hours of leaving port if the percentage of the crew that has not participated in drills aboard that particular vessel in the prior month exceeds which percentage?

1. 5%
2. 10%
3. 25% ✓
4. 40%

Why: Subchapter W requires fire and abandon-ship drills within 24 hours of leaving port whenever more than 25 percent of the crew did not participate in drills aboard that vessel during the previous month.

There is a fire in the crew's quarters of your vessel. Which action should you take FIRST?

1. Ventilate the quarters as much as possible
2. Close all ventilation to the quarters if possible ✓
3. Prepare to abandon ship
4. Attempt to put the fire out yourself before sounding the alarm

In plugging submerged holes, why are rags, wedges, and other materials used in conjunction with plugs?

1. To reduce the possibility of stress fractures
2. To reduce the water pressure on the hull
3. To prevent progressive flooding
4. To reduce the water leaking around the plugs ✓

What is the purpose of a striking plate?

1. It provides a surface for applying force on machinery
2. It prevents valve stem over-travel
3. It provides a landing surface for the sounding bob ✓
4. It absorbs machinery vibration

What is the minimum number of people required to safely handle a 1-1/2 inch fire hose?

1. 1
2. 2 ✓
3. 3
4. 4

When patching holes in the hull, how can pillows, bedding, and other soft materials be used?

1. As strongbacks
2. As gaskets ✓
3. As wedges
4. As shores

Which term is used to describe the horizontal port or starboard movement of a vessel?

1. Heave
2. Yaw
3. Sway ✓
4. Surge

Why: Sway is the bodily side-to-side (translational) motion of a vessel. Yaw is rotation about the vertical axis, surge is fore-and-aft bodily motion, and heave is vertical bodily motion.

What do red sectors of navigation lights warn mariners of?

1. Shoals or nearby land ✓
2. Floating debris
3. Heavily trafficked areas
4. Recently sunken vessels

Why: Red sectors of lights are positioned to cover dangers such as shoals or nearby land; when the light appears red, your line of bearing crosses the charted danger area.

In most cases, the direction of the apparent wind lies between the bow and which reference point?

1. The direction of the true wind ✓
2. The true north
3. The beam on the lee side
4. The beam on the windward side

Which type of projection is used to make a Mercator chart?

1. Simple conic projection
2. Rectangular projection
3. Polyconic projection
4. Cylindrical projection ✓

Your ship is proceeding on course 320°T at a speed of 25 knots. The apparent wind is from 30° off the starboard bow, speed 32 knots. What is the relative direction, true direction and speed of the true wind?

1. Relative 40°, true 080°T, 16.4 knots
2. Relative 80°, true 060°T, 15.2 knots
3. Relative 60°, true 040°T, 18.6 knots
4. Relative 80°, true 040°T, 16.2 knots ✓

An ECDIS is required to display which information?

1. Soundings ✓
2. Meteorological data
3. Radar targets
4. Waypoints

Which maritime radio system, consisting of a series of coast stations, transmits coastal warnings?

1. SAFESEA
2. HYDROLANT/HYDROPAC
3. NAVTEX ✓
4. NAVAREA

Which condition(s) is(are) necessary for the formation of dew?

1. A surface warmer than the dew point of the air
2. Available nuclei in the air
3. Moderate winds
4. Clear skies ✓

Why: Dew forms on clear, calm nights when surfaces radiate heat away and cool below the air's dew point; clouds blanket that radiational cooling. A surface warmer than the dew point would prevent condensation, and wind mixes the air.

On an isomagnetic chart, which term is used for the line of zero variation?

1. An agonic line ✓
2. An isogonic line
3. The zero-variation line
4. A variation line

The survey information upon which a chart is based is found at which location?

1. At the top center of the next line
2. Near the chart title ✓
3. At any convenient location
4. At the lower left corner

Which term is given to a light that has a light period shorter than its dark period?

1. Flashing ✓
2. Alternating
3. Pulsating
4. Occulting

What is the definition of height of tide?

1. The vertical distance from the tidal datum to the level of the water at any time ✓
2. The vertical difference between the heights of low and high water
3. The vertical difference between a datum plane and the ocean bottom
4. The vertical distance from the surface of the water to the ocean floor

To find the specific phase characteristic of a lighthouse on a sound of the United States you would use which reference?

1. U.S. Coast Pilot
2. Nautical Chart Catalog
3. American Practical Navigator
4. Light List ✓

Why: The Light List gives each light's complete characteristic, including rhythm, period, and colors, in more detail than the chart abbreviation. The Coast Pilot describes waters generally but is not the reference for light characteristics.

What is the minimum number of bolts required in a temporarily connected standard ANSI (American National Standards Institute) 8-bolt flange for the transfer of cargo oil?

1. 2
2. 4 ✓
3. 6
4. 8

The dangerous cargo manifest does NOT include which item of information?

1. The net weight of each hazardous cargo ✓
2. A description of the packaging (drums, boxes, etc.)
3. The stowage location of hazardous material aboard the vessel
4. UN identification numbers

If a cargo of kerosene were considered "too lean" to explode, then it must be __________.

1. above the "explosive range"
2. below the "explosive range" ✓
3. within the "explosive range"
4. None of the above

VHF Channel 6 is used exclusively for what kind of communications?

1. Radio checks and time checks
2. Inter-vessel safety and search and rescue ✓
3. Working with helicopters
4. Radio direction finding

Which clouds are described as high clouds, composed of small white flakes or scaly globular masses, and often banded together to form a "mackerel sky"?

1. Cumulonimbus
2. Cirrus
3. Altostratus
4. Cirrocumulus ✓

Normally, your vessel is on a voyage of three months duration. How many sanitary inspections are required to be conducted during the voyage?

1. one ✓
2. three
3. six
4. twelve

You are docking a vessel. Which statement is TRUE?

1. You should go in with the current
2. You should pass a mooring line to the dock and let the crew pull the vessel to
3. You should go in against the current ✓
4. You should approach the dock at a 90° angle

You are the credentialed Master of a 100 GT towing vessel sailing coastwise. What percentage of the deck crew must be able to understand any order spoken by the officers?

1. 50%
2. 65%
3. 75% ✓
4. 100%

Why: Federal law requires that at least 75 percent of the deck crew be able to understand any order spoken by the officers, essential for safe operation and emergency response.

Which is a predictable result of a vessel nearing a bank or edge of a steep banked channel?

1. The vessel will be drawn bodily into the bank unless the engines are stopped
2. The bow sheers toward the bank
3. The stern is drawn to the bank as the bow sheers off ✓
4. The vessel continues in a straight line, but with greatly reduced maneuverability

Why: Bank suction: water accelerating between hull and bank lowers pressure aft, drawing the stern toward the bank, while the pressure cushion at the bow sheers the bow away.