On a ship with a periodically unmanned engine room, the duty engineer is responsible for making machinery space rounds when the engine room is unattended. Between machinery space rounds, what is the responsibility of the duty engineer?
• Periodically Unmanned Machinery Spaces (UMS) and what that means for watchkeeping responsibilities • Who holds primary responsibility for machinery alarms when the engine room is unattended • The purpose of remote alarm panels in cabins and public spaces
• Ask yourself: when the engine room is unmanned, which single engineer is formally designated to be responsible for the machinery plant? • Think about why the alarms are repeated in the duty engineer’s cabin and common spaces—what does that imply about who must acknowledge and respond to them? • Consider whether it makes sense (for safety and regulations) that someone other than the officially designated duty engineer would be primarily responsible for responding to alarms.
• Verify which officer is normally named as duty engineer in UMS operations and what that role includes beyond making rounds. • Check that the choice you pick clearly states the duty engineer must remain available to respond to alarms, not just walk through on schedule. • Eliminate any options that transfer the main alarm‑response duty to someone not identified as the duty engineer for that watch.
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