Nauti Test ProICS Marlins English Language Test for Seafarers · practice
1,400 maritime English questions organised like the real test — Listening with audio recordings, Grammar, Vocabulary, Time & Numbers with dictation and Reading — plus an 85-question timed simulation with the official section weighting and an explanation after every answer.
The ICS Marlins English Language Test for Seafarers is the English assessment most crewing agencies and shipowners use before signing a contract. It is taken on a computer, has 85 tasks, a recommended time of 60 minutes, and the result is a percentage — most employers ask for 70–80 % depending on the rank. Two of its sections are audio-based, which is where most candidates lose points.
| Section | Tasks | What it tests |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | 25 | Bridge and engine-room exchanges, VHF calls, PA announcements, instructions |
| Grammar | 30 | Tenses, prepositions, conditionals, reported speech in shipboard contexts |
| Vocabulary | 15 | Ship parts, operations, safety equipment, documents |
| Different sounds | 9 | Words that are easy to confuse by ear (fifteen / fifty, ship / sheep) |
| Time and numbers | 5 | Times, positions, channels, quantities — spoken and written |
| Reading | 1 task | A shipboard notice, manual extract or document with several questions |
The 85 are tasks: Reading counts as one task that carries about ten questions inside it, which is why the timed simulation below draws 10 reading questions and still totals 85.
330 listening items recorded with British voices — VHF calls, engine-room handovers, emergency announcements, port calls. You get two plays before answering, exactly like the test; afterwards you can replay freely and read the transcript.
149 items on times, positions, VHF channels, draughts and quantities — 70 of them dictated as audio, with the classic traps (thirteen / thirty, "decimal", swapped digits) as the wrong options.
85 questions in 60 minutes, drawn as 25 Listening / 30 Grammar / 15 Vocabulary / 5 Numbers / 10 Reading. Your result shows a percentage per section, so you know where to study next.
Every question explains the rule, the term or the sentence in the passage that gives the answer. The questions, the recordings and the transcripts are in English; the written explanation after each answer is currently in Spanish.
Tap an option to check it. The free demo has more, no sign-up needed.
If visibility _______ below one nautical mile, we must reduce speed.
The word 'bulkhead' refers to:
In port, the crew must carry a ___ issued by the immigration authorities to be allowed through the terminal gate for a few hours ashore.
The ICS Marlins English Language Test for Seafarers is a computer-based test of maritime English used by crewing agencies and shipowners to check a candidate before a contract. It has 85 tasks across Listening, Grammar, Vocabulary, Different sounds, Time and numbers and Reading, a recommended time of 60 minutes, and it reports a percentage score.
Marlins itself does not set one — each employer decides the minimum for each rank. In practice most companies ask for 70 to 80 %, and the listening sections are where candidates most often fall short.
Yes. 400 of the 1,400 questions are audio-based: 330 listening items (comprehension and sound discrimination) and 70 time-and-numbers dictations, recorded with British voices. Before answering you can play each recording twice, like in the test; afterwards you can replay it and read the transcript.
It draws 85 questions in 60 minutes with the official weighting — 25 Listening, 30 Grammar, 15 Vocabulary, 5 Time and numbers, 10 Reading — shuffles the answer order and reports your percentage per section.
No. Nauti Test Pro is an independent practice tool. Marlins is a trademark of its owner; our questions are written by us to mirror the format and skills of the test and are not the test's own questions.
The questions, the recordings and the transcripts are in English. The explanation shown after each answer is currently in Spanish. The app interface is available in English and Spanish.
Each practice — a 50-question unit, a drill or the full simulation — costs one token. New verified accounts get 5 free tokens; after that you buy small packs by card, with no subscription.