MASTER'S STANDING ORDERS

VESSEL : FORM NO : SEHQ/MAROPS-01

All officers on joining to read, understand and comply with the standing orders and acknowledge same by signing on
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the cover page
All watch keeping officers when taking over a watch on bridge, must read, understand and comply with the night orders
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and acknowledge same by signing the same
A copy of the standing orders to be attached to the night order book, which will always be readily available on the chart
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table
Alertness & competence of the watch keeping officer are the most important means of avoiding dangerous situations &
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ensuring the safety of the vessel & persons onboard

5 Officers on watch should follow the international regulations for the prevention of collision at sea at all times

6 A proper all round look out must be maintained at all times

Whenever in any doubt, call Master immediately. The OOW must not hesitate to take immediate action to ensure the
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safety of the vessel till such time master arrives on bridge and takes over the con from OOW

The OOW shall continue to remain responsible for the safe navigation even with the master on the bridge unless the
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master specifically informs him that he has assumed responsibility. This is to be recorded in the log book.

The responsibility of the safe navigation of the ship remains with the Master & OOW, even with the pilot onboard. The
pilots are only assisting in the capacity of an advisor and hence plotting of positions, monitoring of progress of the
9 vessel and the tracking of other vessels for collision avoidance must be continued even with the pilot onboard. If there
is any doubt of the pilot’s intentions, the OOW must seek clarification in a polite manner or inform the master
immediately

OOW should note that when collision avoidance action is to be taken it should be done well in time & the action should
be such as to be readily apparent to another vessel observing visually or by radar as a rule an aleration of 30 to 40
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degrees must be made. In general in open sea, if there is sufficient sea room & if circumstances permit, action must be
taken at a distance of at least 4-5 miles and a minimum cpa of 1 nautical mile must be maintained

At sea the OOW should ensure the following

A The bridge should be not left unattended at any time

B Prior taking over watch wait till your vision has adjusted to prevailing light condition
Check vessel’s position, that course being steered is same as handed over by the relieving officer and as marked on
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the chart
D Ensure that a proper all round lookouts is kept at all times

E Have one radar on during the day as well as at night

F Check and record compass error at least once a watch & after every major course alteration

G Compare compasses frequently

H Check & compare vessel’s position by gps, radar, and visual by more than one means

Take celestial observations such as sun & stellar sights frequently for practice and as a cross check on positions
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obtained by other means

J Try out hand steering at least once in each watch & log same in deck log book

K When using radar for collision avoidance ensure ship’s speed fed in arpa is correct in order to get correct cpa & tcpa

L Check the radar performance at least once a watch by performance monitor

M Keep a listening watch on channel 16. And ch 70 (dsc frequencies)

N All navigational logs to be filled during the watch

O Weather fax should be taken at least twice a day and relevant details plotted
 MASTER'S STANDING ORDERS
VESSEL : FORM NO : SEHQ/MAROPS-01
OOW should call the master immediately under any one or more of the following circumstances in compliance with
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documented procedures in company’s sms.

12 OOW should visit the chart room only for short periods of time & that to for plotting position or for chart reference

13 All officers should be familiar with the ship’s manoeuvring characteristics in calm & rough weather

OOW should bear in mind that the engines are at his disposal at all times & to use them without any hesitation
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whenever required in an emergency. If time permits duty engineer to be informed of any variation of engine speed

15 All officers are to practice radar plotting in clear weather and compare with the arpa

After watch, the OOW / helm’s man should take a round in the accommodation to check for fire, flooding or any other
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unusual happenings (master may deviate from this practice in lieu of any functional equivalent system / arrangement)

Chief officer must ensure that all openings on deck I.E. manholes, w/t doors ETC. Are closed in the evening before the
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crew knocks off for the day. The water tight integrity of the vessel should be always maintained
Master should be informed of any changes in the ship’s ballast or fuel transfers or consumption of excessive f.w. At any
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time

19 Ship’s stresses at various stages of the voyage should be worked and recorded in the bridge log book

20 All tanks and hold bilges should be sounded daily & record maintained

In rough weather no one should be allowed to go on deck & if for any reason crew has to go on deck bridge & master
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to be informed so that course can be altered accordingly for the safety of the crew

Proper safety clothing & equipment should be always worn by the crew while working I.E. helmets, safety shoes,
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gloves, goggles, ear muffs, safety belts and working vests

23 Enclosed space entry, hot work & cold work permits to be carefully & properly filled in before any work is commenced

24 Officer’s to follow company’s drug & alcohol policy at all times

In addition all navigating officers to please read carefully understand & implement various rules, guidelines, procedures laid
down in the following books / manuals for keeping safer watch at sea, anchorage & in ports
1. Bridge procedures guide.
2. Guide to passage planning & conduct of sea passages
3. Collision regulations
4. Regulation 11 of stcw convention 1995
5. Procedures and instructions in company’s sms.

Having read and understood the above, please endorse the same with your signature at the spaces provided below.

Master Date

OFFICERS
NAME RANK DATE SIGNATURE