What is the final course the helmsman reports steering?
Plays left: 2
Nauti Test ProMarlins English Language Test for Seafarers · free practice test 5 of 6
Marlins practice test 5
ten more, with times, numbers and standard phrases.
Times, numbers and the standard phrases used at sea are a small part of the test and a common place to lose marks — a misheard time or a number said the other way round costs the same as a grammar mistake. Test 5 puts a few of those next to the usual grammar and vocabulary.
- 10questions
- 2with audio
- 100 %explained
- Freeno sign-up
01Practice test 5
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.
The notice _______ the crew to attend a safety meeting at 1600.
If only we _______ a spare injector on board; now the engine will run on five cylinders until Singapore.
Shore leave lasts ____ 2200; after that the gangway will be raised.
In a position report, the abbreviation 'SOG' means:
What number did you hear?
Plays left: 2
Set to ___, a fire nozzle gives a curtain of fine water droplets that absorbs heat and shields the fire party; set to ___, it gives a solid stream with long reach.
Water that collects at the bottom of the holds and the engine room drains into the ____, where it is pumped out.
What do you say when you find a person in the water?
The pilot was late yesterday, so we ____ wait at anchor for three hours.
02Answers and explanations
The answer to every question above, and why the other options are not it.
Q1 — Listening
D · Zero four five
The helmsman ends with 'Steering zero four five, sir'. The other courses are not heard: 'ten' and 'five' are rudder angles, not courses.
Transcript: Starboard ten. Starboard ten, sir. Wheel is starboard ten. Ease to five. Midships. Steady on zero four five. Ease to five, sir. Midships. Steady on zero four five. Steering zero four five, sir.
Q2 — Grammar
D · required
'Required' is a finite past form used in the pattern 'require somebody to do something'. 'Requiring' is not finite and 'is require' mixes an auxiliary with an infinitive.
Q3 — Grammar
D · had
'If only' about an unreal present situation takes the past simple ('If only we had'); 'would have' is not used after 'if only' with the same subject.
Q4 — Grammar
A · until
'Until' shows how long a situation continues: 'lasts until 2200'. 'By' gives a deadline for finishing something, not how long something lasts.
Q5 — Vocabulary
A · Speed Over Ground — the actual speed of the vessel measured relative to the seabed, as shown by GPS
'SOG' stands for 'Speed Over Ground': the actual speed relative to the seabed, the one the GPS shows. It differs from 'STW' ('Speed Through Water'), measured against the water by the log.
Q6 — Listening
B · 0630
You hear 'oh six thirty'. 'Oh' is the usual way to say zero in times and numbers, so it is 0630; 'sixteen thirty' would have '-teen', and 'six thirteen' would end in a stressed /iːn/.
Transcript: The launch leaves the jetty at oh six thirty tomorrow morning.
Q7 — Vocabulary
C · spray / jet
A spray setting (also called 'fog') makes a curtain of fine droplets that cools and shields the fire party; a jet setting reaches further and hits the fire directly.
Q8 — Vocabulary
A · bilge wells
'Bilge wells' collect the water that gathers at the bottom of the holds and engine room so it can be pumped out. 'Ballast tanks' are filled with seawater on purpose.
Q9 — Standard phrases
D · 'Man overboard, man overboard — position [coordinates]'
The SMCP sets the phrase 'Man overboard', repeated, followed by the position or the side ('port side'/'starboard side') so that the bridge can start the manoeuvre at once. The others are informal phrases with no standard format.
Q10 — Grammar
D · had to
'had to' is the past of 'have to', and the sentence talks about 'yesterday'. 'must' and 'have to' are present forms, and 'must have' would need a past participle ('must have waited') and would express a deduction, not an obligation.
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 4the words that cost marks, not the ones you already know.
- Practice test 5you are here
- 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).