Familiarisation for new crew

Your first hours on board: muster list, alarm signals, muster station, lifejackets, fire equipment and what to do if someone goes overboard. Everything a new crew member must know before the first shift.

Before you start any work on board, you must complete safety familiarisation. It is required by SOLAS and STCW - and it is the difference between knowing what to do in an emergency and guessing.

The muster list names every crew member's emergency duties: fire, abandon ship, man overboard. Your personal copy hangs in your cabin. Read it - your station, your boat, your job.

Seven short blasts and one long: general emergency, go to your muster station. A continuous alarm: prepare to abandon ship. Three long blasts, repeated: man overboard. Learn them before you sail.

Walk the route from your cabin and from your workplace to your muster station - today, in daylight, with someone who knows the vessel. Memorise two ways out of every space you work in.

Find your lifejacket and immersion suit. Try the lifejacket on - now, not in an emergency. Check the light and the whistle. Ask where spare suits are stowed.

Know the nearest fire extinguisher, fire point and alarm button to your cabin and your workplace. If you discover fire or smoke: raise the alarm first, then act. Never fight a fire alone.

If you see someone fall overboard: shout MAN OVERBOARD at the top of your voice, throw a lifebuoy, and never take your eyes off the person in the water. Point continuously until the bridge confirms.

Take every drill seriously: same signals, same stations, same duties as a real emergency. When you hear this is a drill, act exactly as if it were not.

Familiarisation ends with a signed checklist in the safety management system. Your signature means I know this - not I was handed a paper. Ask about anything you are unsure of. No question is stupid on day one.

Question 1 of 8

What must happen before your first shift?

  • Safety familiarisation must be completed first
  • Only officers need familiarisation
  • Nothing - the skipper's word is enough
  • Familiarisation can wait until the first calm day at sea

Question 2 of 8

Where do you find your personal emergency duties on board?

  • The cook keeps the list
  • On your muster card, in your cabin
  • In your employment contract
  • Posted on the quay ashore

Question 3 of 8

Seven short blasts followed by one long blast means:

  • Man overboard
  • Crew meal is ready
  • Abandon ship immediately
  • General emergency - go to your muster station

Question 4 of 8

What do you do?

  • Jump into the liferaft straight away
  • Go to the engine room for instructions
  • Wait in your cabin for the all-clear
  • Put on your lifejacket and go to your muster station

Question 5 of 8

You see a crew member fall overboard. What do you do first?

  • Shout MAN OVERBOARD, throw a lifebuoy, keep your eyes on them
  • Take a photo for the report
  • Run to the engine room to stop the engine
  • Dive in after them immediately

Question 6 of 8

What comes first?

  • Raise the alarm, then act
  • Move the store contents out first
  • Open the door to check how big it is
  • Fight the fire alone with the nearest extinguisher

Question 7 of 8

The alarm sounds and the bridge announces: this is a drill. How do you act?

  • Finish what you are doing and join later
  • Exactly as in a real emergency
  • Stay where you are - it is only a drill
  • Help stow gear, drills are for maintenance checks

Question 8 of 8

You are handed the familiarisation checklist, but you have not tried on the lifejacket yet. What do you do?

  • Ask another crew member to sign for you
  • Complete the items first, then sign
  • Sign now and practise later
  • Sign - the checklist is only paperwork