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Key Facts: STCW Crisis Management Exam

Table A-V/2-2

Standard of Competence

STCW Code, Section A-V/2 para 4

5 competences

Areas Assessed

STCW Table A-V/2-2

Model Course 1.42

IMO Syllabus

IMO Model Course 1.42 (2018)

1-2 days

Typical Course Length

Approved training centres

~5 years

Refresher Interval

Flag-state requirements

Reg V/2

STCW Convention Basis

STCW Convention as amended

STCW Crisis Management and Human Behaviour Training (Table A-V/2-2, STCW Code as amended) is mandatory for masters, chief engineer officers, chief mates, second engineer officers and anyone on the muster list responsible for passenger safety in an emergency. Built on IMO Model Course 1.42, the 1-2 day course covers five competences: organising shipboard emergency procedures (muster list, emergency plans, ship layout, drills); optimising the use of resources (crew and equipment allocation, equipment limitations, task prioritisation, reserves, external SAR help); controlling the response to emergencies (initial assessment, leadership and decision-making under pressure, balancing risks, unity of command); controlling passengers through human behaviour (denial, panic, herding and freeze responses, crowd-crush prevention, multicultural and vulnerable-passenger management, de-escalation); and establishing and maintaining effective communications (clear plain-language and multilingual messages, closed-loop read-back, redundancy, external liaison, media awareness). Assessment is commonly multiple-choice plus scenario exercises set by the flag-state-approved centre; refresher is commonly required every five years.

Sample STCW Crisis Management Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to review concepts for the STCW Crisis Management exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Under STCW Code Table A-V/2-2, which group of seafarers must hold proficiency in crisis management and human behaviour?
A.Only the master and the safety officer
B.All ratings forming part of a navigational watch
C.Masters, chief engineer officers, chief mates, second engineer officers and any person designated on the muster list as responsible for passenger safety in an emergency
D.Only personnel who serve more than five years on passenger ships
Explanation: STCW Regulation V/2 and Table A-V/2-2 require crisis management and human behaviour proficiency for masters, chief engineer officers, chief mates, second engineer officers and anyone listed on the muster list as having responsibility for passenger safety in an emergency.
2Which IMO Model Course provides the syllabus for passenger ship crisis management and human behaviour training under STCW A-V/2-2?
A.IMO Model Course 1.41
B.IMO Model Course 1.42
C.IMO Model Course 1.28
D.IMO Model Course 7.01
Explanation: IMO Model Course 1.42, Passenger Ship Crisis Management and Human Behaviour Training, sets out the syllabus delivering the competences of STCW Code Table A-V/2-2.
3What is the primary purpose of the shipboard muster list (station bill) in an emergency?
A.To record passenger cabin assignments for billing
B.To record the daily watch rotation of deck officers
C.To list the lifeboat manufacturers and inspection dates
D.To specify the alarm signals, the duties assigned to each crew member, and the stations to which they must proceed
Explanation: The muster list specifies the general emergency alarm and other signals, the action crew must take when they sound, and the duties and emergency stations assigned to each person, forming the backbone of organised shipboard emergency procedures.
4When designing or reviewing shipboard emergency procedures, why is detailed knowledge of the ship's general arrangement and layout essential?
A.It allows the crew to calculate the vessel's gross tonnage
B.It enables realistic escape routes, muster station capacities, and access constraints to be built into the plan
C.It is only needed by the naval architect, not the operational crew
D.It determines the ship's maximum service speed
Explanation: Effective emergency plans depend on integrating knowledge of ship layout - escape routes, fire zones, watertight boundaries, muster station locations and capacities - so that procedures match the real physical environment passengers and crew must move through.
5A passenger ship's emergency plan should be developed so that it remains effective when which condition occurs?
A.Only when the full complement of crew is on board and rested
B.Under a range of foreseeable emergencies and degraded conditions, including reduced manning and loss of some systems
C.Only in calm weather and daylight
D.Only when the ship is alongside in port
Explanation: Robust shipboard emergency procedures anticipate foreseeable contingencies - fire, flooding, collision, blackout, reduced manning - so the plan still functions when conditions are degraded, rather than assuming ideal circumstances.
6Why are regular drills and exercises a core part of organising shipboard emergency procedures?
A.They are purely a documentation requirement with no operational value
B.They are only required before a flag-state audit
C.They validate the plan, reveal gaps, and build crew familiarity so actions become reliable under real stress
D.They replace the need for a written emergency plan
Explanation: Drills test whether the emergency plan actually works, expose weaknesses in routes, equipment and coordination, and rehearse the crew so that responses are familiar and dependable when a genuine crisis raises stress levels.
7In the context of crisis management, what does the principle of 'graceful degradation' of a response organisation mean?
A.The plan collapses entirely once one team is lost
B.Key functions can still be carried out by reassigning duties when individuals or teams become unavailable
C.Passengers gradually take over crew duties
D.The ship slows its engines progressively
Explanation: A well-organised emergency structure is resilient: critical functions are backed up so that if a team member is injured or a station is cut off, duties can be reassigned and the response continues rather than failing outright.
8Which document on a passenger ship most directly informs crew of the routes and procedures for safely mustering passengers from accommodation to assembly stations?
A.The cargo securing manual
B.The ballast water management plan
C.The fire control plan and muster/evacuation arrangements
D.The garbage record book
Explanation: Fire control plans and the associated muster and evacuation arrangements show escape routes, assembly and embarkation stations, and fire boundaries, which crew use to plan and direct the safe movement of passengers.
9STCW crisis management training emphasises that emergency procedures should be 'pre-planned' rather than improvised primarily because:
A.Improvisation is prohibited by international law in all cases
B.Improvised actions are always faster than planned ones
C.Pre-planned procedures eliminate the need for any on-scene judgement
D.Pre-planning reduces decision time and error when stress and time pressure are highest
Explanation: Under acute stress, cognitive capacity narrows; rehearsed, pre-planned procedures cut the decisions that must be made on the spot, reducing delay and error during the critical early minutes of a crisis.
10When organising emergency procedures, why must the plan account for the safe movement of passengers during embarkation and disembarkation, not only during casualties?
A.Embarkation and disembarkation are the only times passengers are aboard
B.It is required only for ferries under 500 gross tonnage
C.Crowding at gangways and terminals creates real movement and crush hazards that the crew must manage
D.Passenger movement ashore is the port authority's sole responsibility
Explanation: Table A-V/2-2 includes organising the safe movement of passengers when embarking and disembarking because dense, time-pressured flows at gangways and terminals create crush and fall hazards the crew must control even outside a declared emergency.

About the STCW Crisis Management Exam

STCW Crisis Management and Human Behaviour Training delivers the standards of competence in STCW Code Section A-V/2 paragraph 4 and Table A-V/2-2 (Convention as amended). It is mandatory for masters, chief engineer officers, chief mates, second engineer officers and any person designated on the muster list as responsible for the safety of passengers in an emergency. The course - based on IMO Model Course 1.42 - covers organising shipboard emergency procedures, optimising the use of resources, controlling the response to emergencies, controlling passengers and other personnel through an understanding of human behaviour, and establishing and maintaining effective communications. It is delivered as a 1-2 day course with a written assessment and scenario exercises, with periodic refresher commonly required every five years.

Exam sponsor: Flag-state-approved maritime training centres delivering IMO Model Course 1.42 under the STCW Convention and Code. The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.

Assessment

Question count not published by the exam provider

Time Limit

End-of-course assessment within a 1-2 day course

Passing Score

Pass/fail to the approved training centre's standard (resits commonly available)

Exam / Certification Fees

Varies by training centre (typically about USD 150-350)

Exam sponsor website

Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.

Our practice resources: topics covered

We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.

20%

Organise Shipboard Emergency Procedures

Designing and reviewing emergency plans, the muster list and station bill, integrating knowledge of ship layout and escape routes, conducting drills and exercises, the mandatory passenger muster drill, reviewing procedures after changes, and building redundancy and graceful degradation into the response organisation

18%

Optimise the Use of Resources

Allocating trained crew and equipment to tasks, recognising equipment limitations such as breathing-apparatus air endurance and pump capacity, prioritising life-safety tasks under stress, holding personnel in reserve, planning team rotation, and integrating external resources such as the MRCC, assisting vessels and SAR assets

22%

Control Response to Emergencies

Making a rapid initial assessment of nature, location and extent, exercising calm decisive leadership and decision-making under pressure, balancing risks (for example releasing a fixed system into a space that may be occupied), continuous reassessment, unity of command, the life-first priority hierarchy, and countering analysis paralysis and attention tunnelling

24%

Control Passengers and Other Personnel (Human Behaviour)

Understanding human reactions to emergencies - denial, panic, herding, freeze and the social-proof effect - managing crowd dynamics and preventing crushes, de-escalating conflict, assisting passengers with reduced mobility, the elderly and children, controlling multicultural and multilingual crowds, and modelling calm authority that passengers follow

16%

Establish and Maintain Effective Communications

Maintaining multidirectional information flow between command, teams and passengers, using closed-loop read-back and plain or pre-scripted multilingual language, keeping communication redundancy when the PA fails, liaising with external authorities and sending effective distress messages, managing media awareness, and keeping an event log

Preparing for the STCW Crisis Management Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: Pass/fail to the approved training centre's standard (resits commonly available)
  • Assessment: Question count not published by the exam provider
  • Time limit: End-of-course assessment within a 1-2 day course
  • Exam / certification fees: Varies by training centre (typically about USD 150-350) Official sources

Using Our Practice Resources

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STCW Crisis Management: Suggested Study Strategy

1Memorise who must hold A-V/2-2: masters, chief engineer officers, chief mates, second engineer officers, and any muster-list passenger-safety designee - this is a common exam point
2Learn the five competences of Table A-V/2-2 as a framework: organise procedures, optimise resources, control response, control passengers (human behaviour), and communicate - many questions map directly to one of them
3Understand human-behaviour terms precisely: denial/delay, panic, herding/affiliation, the freeze response, and social proof (pluralistic ignorance) - distractors often swap these definitions
4Practise risk-balancing scenarios such as releasing a fixed fire-extinguishing system into a space that may still be occupied, where the life-first priority hierarchy governs the answer
5Remember resource limits in concrete terms - breathing-apparatus air endurance, survival-craft certified capacity, team rotation and reserves - rather than assuming equipment performs indefinitely
6Know the communications fundamentals: closed-loop read-back, plain or pre-scripted multilingual language, redundancy when the PA fails, and an early distress message giving position, nature, persons on board and assistance required

Frequently Asked Questions

What is STCW Crisis Management and Human Behaviour Training?

It is the passenger-ship training that delivers the competences of STCW Code Section A-V/2 paragraph 4 and Table A-V/2-2 (Convention as amended). Based on IMO Model Course 1.42, it teaches officers and designated crew to organise emergency procedures, optimise resources, control the emergency response, manage passenger behaviour, and communicate effectively in a crisis.

Who is required to hold this certificate?

Under STCW Regulation V/2 and Table A-V/2-2, it is mandatory for masters, chief engineer officers, chief mates, second engineer officers and any person designated on the muster list as having responsibility for the safety of passengers in an emergency.

Is the assessment multiple choice?

The end-of-course assessment is set by the flag-state-approved training centre and is commonly delivered as multiple-choice questions combined with practical scenario exercises. The STCW Code defines the competences but does not fix a published question count, so the exact format varies by centre.

How long is the course and how often must it be refreshed?

It is typically a 1-2 day course following IMO Model Course 1.42. Refresher or revalidation is commonly expected on a five-year cycle in line with flag-state requirements, to keep the crisis management and human behaviour competence current.

What human behaviour topics does it cover?

It covers how people react in emergencies - denial and delay, panic, herding and affiliation, the freeze response and the social-proof effect - plus crowd dynamics and crush prevention, conflict de-escalation, assisting vulnerable passengers, and managing multicultural and multilingual crowds while projecting calm authority.

How is this course different from Crowd Management (A-V/2-1)?

Crowd Management, Passenger Safety and Safety Training (A-V/2-1) is a broader, lower-level course for crew who assist passengers. Crisis Management and Human Behaviour (A-V/2-2) is the higher-level competence for senior officers and those who direct and command the emergency response.