Where candidates go wrong
They prepare for a quiz and walk into a command interview. The Master <500 GT (Yachts) oral is not a recitation of rule numbers. The examiner wants to see a person who can take a 30 to 50 m yacht anywhere in the world (MO 74 Schedule 1: master duties on yachts <500 GT in any operating area) and make defensible decisions. The second failing is booking too early. AMSA says plainly: do not treat the exam as a practice run.
What the syllabus actually is
AMSA publishes one syllabus for both yacht master grades: Appendix 12 — Syllabus for the AMSA oral examination, Certificate of Competency, Master <500 GT (Yachts) and Master <3000 GT (Yachts). It has twelve sections. This course is organised around them.
| Appendix 12 section | Where it sits in this course |
|---|---|
| 1 Management | Modules 5 and 6 |
| 2 Standards of watchkeeping | Modules 1 and 2 |
| 3 Bridge equipment; 4 Navigation, charts and publications | Module 1 |
| 5 Stress and stability; 9 Dry docking | Module 4 |
| 6 Ship handling | Modules 1 and 3 |
| 7 Prevention of pollution | Module 5 |
| 8 Emergencies; 10 Search and rescue; 11 Essential equipment | Module 3 |
| 12 Collision avoidance | Module 2 |
The notes to candidates, in plain terms
- The list is topics, not questions. Anything relevant to a topic is fair game.
- You may be asked to draw, to do simple calculations, and to demonstrate radar plotting and chartwork.
- The focus is on management responsibilities for the grade, but the syllabus includes lower grades, so a watchkeeper-level question on lights or buoyage is still in scope.
- You must show adequate English throughout. MO 74 section 9 makes English a general criterion for issue.
How the exam is run
| Item | AMSA position |
|---|---|
| Format | Mostly online via Microsoft Teams; face-to-face at regional offices on request |
| Result | The examiner's decision is final; unsuccessful candidates get feedback |
| Conduct | Suspected prompting or reading can end the exam as a failure |
| Wait after 1st or 2nd fail | At least 2 weeks |
| After 3rd | At least 4 weeks |
| After 4th | At least 3 months |
| After 5th or 6th | At least 6 months |
| After 7th and later | No less than 9 months |
You reach the oral only after AMSA's assessment letter confirms your sea service and training. For this grade that means 12 months as officer in charge of a navigation watch on vessels of 12 m and over, including 4 months on vessels of 20 m and over and 4 months on voyages of at least 24 hours, while holding Watchkeeper Deck <3000 GT (Yachts) or equivalent (MO 74 Schedule 2). The certificate pathway itself is covered in AMSA Master <500 GT (Yachts).
Answering technique
- Restate the situation in one sentence so the examiner knows you heard it.
- Give the immediate action, then the reasoning.
- Name the authority: the COLREG rule, the Marine Order, the Navigation Act section, the SMS.
- Close the loop: who you inform, what you log, what you report.
TIP — Use your own sea time AMSA says examiners may ask you to describe examples from your sea service. Have three real incidents ready, told honestly, with what you would do differently as master.
Command-level obligation
The master's answer is the one that stands up afterwards at an inquiry, not the one that sounds clever in the room. Every answer should show that you know the rule, you applied it, and you recorded it.