Where is the oil record book at the moment?
Plays left: 2
Nauti Test ProMarlins English Language Test for Seafarers · free practice test 4 of 6
Marlins practice test 4
the words that cost marks, not the ones you already know.
By the fourth test the easy marks are gone. The vocabulary here is the kind that separates a 60 % from an 80 %: the word used on board rather than the one from the dictionary, and pairs that sound alike over a radio. Play each recording twice at most, the way the test allows.
- 10questions
- 2with audio
- 100 %explained
- Freeno sign-up
01Practice test 4
Tap the option you think is right and the answer appears at once, with the reason. Each recording can be played twice before you answer, as in the real test, and freely afterwards — with the transcript.
Choose the correct preposition: 'The vessel arrived _______ Rotterdam _______ Monday morning and berthed _______ pier 7 at 0830.'
Look at those black clouds to the west: it _______ before we reach the pilot station.
Please write down ____ the pilot told you about the tidal stream in the channel.
What is a 'stevedore'?
Which word did you hear after 'engine is'?
Plays left: 2
What cargoes is an OBO carrier built to carry?
To stop the load from spinning under the crane hook, a docker held a ____ attached to it.
The phrase 'I am altering my course to starboard' is an example of:
How long ____ it take to walk from the gangway to the port gate?
02Answers and explanations
The answer to every question above, and why the other options are not it.
Q1 — Listening
D · On the bridge
You hear 'The oil record book is on the bridge'; the folder holds the certificates, and the chief officer is only going to fetch it, he does not have it with him.
Transcript: Good morning, Captain. I'm from port state control. Before we start the walk-round, I'd like to see the Safety Management Certificate, the Load Line Certificate and the last two oil record book pages, please. Certainly. The certificates are in this folder. The oil record book is on the bridge; I'll have the chief officer bring it down.
Q2 — Grammar
C · in / on / at
'Arrive in' with cities and countries ('in Rotterdam'), 'on' with days ('on Monday morning') and 'at' with specific points ('at pier 7'). 'Arrive at' is kept for point locations such as a berth or an airport.
Q3 — Grammar
C · is going to rain
'Be going to' is used for predictions based on present evidence (the clouds); the present simple, the present continuous and the future perfect do not express that prediction.
Q4 — Grammar
B · what
'What' means 'the thing that' and needs no noun before it: 'write down what the pilot told you'. 'That' and 'which' would need a noun before them, as in 'everything that'.
Q5 — Vocabulary
C · A worker who loads and unloads cargo from ships
The 'stevedore' is the port worker who loads and discharges goods from ships. The one who guides the ship into port is the 'pilot' and the ship's carpenter is the 'carpenter'.
Q6 — Listening
B · still
You hear 'is still running'. 'Still' has the short /ɪ/; 'steel' lengthens it to /iː/, 'stall' has the long /ɔː/ and 'style' the diphthong /aɪ/.
Transcript: The main engine is still running at slow ahead.
Q7 — Vocabulary
A · ore, dry bulk or oil, on different voyages
OBO stands for Ore/Bulk/Oil: a combination carrier that can carry ore, dry bulk or oil on different voyages, which cuts down ballast passages.
Q8 — Vocabulary
A · tag line
A 'tag line' is a rope tied to a hanging load so a worker can stop it spinning from a safe distance. A 'painter' is the rope that holds a boat or liferaft to the ship.
Q9 — Standard phrases
B · A maneuvering phrase in Standard Marine Communication Phrases
'I am altering my course to starboard' belongs to the manoeuvring phrases of the SMCP, used between ships. It is not preceded by MAYDAY or PAN-PAN because it is neither distress nor urgency.
Q10 — Grammar
D · does
'take' is in the base form and the question is about a general fact, so the present simple auxiliary with 'it' is used: 'does'. 'is' would need 'taking'; 'has' would need 'taken'; 'have' does not agree with 'it' and would also need 'taken'.
03The other practice tests
Six free tests, sixty questions, none repeated. They are ours, written in the format of the Marlins test.
- Practice test 1ten questions, two recordings, every answer explained.
- Practice test 2ten new questions, none repeated from test 1.
- Practice test 3the same weighting the real test uses.
- Practice test 4you are here
- Practice test 5ten more, with times, numbers and standard phrases.
- Practice test 6the last free one — then the full 85-question simulation.
04After the free tests
The real test is 85 questions in 60 minutes and the result is a percentage, with no pass mark — the score you need is the one your employer asks for. Nauti Test Pro has 2,314 questions in that format, 510 of them recorded, and a timed simulation with the weighting Marlins publishes, scored section by section against the minimum recommended for your rank.
- Create an account — verify your email and phone and you get 5 free tokens.
- One token = one practice — a unit of up to 50 questions, a drill or the full simulation.
- Buy tokens when you need more — small packs by card, no subscription.
Taking a different Marlins test? See cruise ship staff, offshore workers or the speaking test (TOSE).