Second mate
The second mate is the third in command (or on some ocean liners fourth) and a watchkeeping officer, customarily the ship's navigator.
Other duties vary, but the second mate is often the medical officer[2] and in charge of maintaining distress signaling equipment.
The plan includes undocking, departure, the en route portion of a voyage, approach, and mooring at the destination.
[3][failed verification] In port and at sea, the second mate is responsible to the captain for keeping the ship, its crew, and its cargo safe for eight hours each day.
This is required for a number of reasons, such as to use charts and nautical publications, understand weather and safety messages, communication with other ships and coast stations, and to be able to work with a multi-lingual crew.
At sea, the mate on watch has three fundamental duties: to navigate the ship, to safely avoid traffic, and to respond to emergencies.
A ship's draught, trim, speed and under-keel clearance all affect its turning radius and stopping distance.
Accounting for effects of winds, tides, currents and estimated speed, the officer directs the helmsman to keep to track.
The officer uses supplemental information from nautical publications, such as sailing directions, tide tables, notices to mariners, and radio navigational warnings to keep the ship clear of danger in transit.
Safety demands the mate be able to quickly solve steering control problems and to calibrate the system for optimum performance.
Weather's profound effect on ships requires the officer be able to interpret and apply meteorological information from all available sources.
Factors such as rain, high seas, and dense clouds can prevent radar from detecting other vessels.
Finally, human errors such as inaccurate speed inputs and confusion between true and relative vectors add to the limitations of the radar/ARPA suite.
After a collision or a grounding, the officer must be able to take initial action, perform damage assessment and control, and understand the procedures for rescuing persons from the sea, assisting ships in distress, and responding to any emergency which may arise in port.
The officer must understand distress signals and know the IMO Merchant Ship Search and Rescue Manual.
Officers are trained to perform medical tasks and to follow instructions given by radio or obtained from guides.
Critics assert that the newer requirements will eventually lead to a shortage of qualified mariners, especially in places like the United States.
In addition, he must possess various mandatory training in life saving, survival, fire fighting, and bridge team management, among others.
Lastly, he must have cleared the 2MFG written and orals conducted by the various Mercantile Marine Departments, aka MMD.
In the 1840s personal narrative Two Years Before the Mast, the author (Richard Henry Dana Jr.) describes the role of a second mate on an American merchant trading brig as follows: The role of the second mate officer (or any subordinate officer) was then very much determined by the captain of a ship.
