As I joined my most recent command it was also requested that I do the pilot exemption for Singapore in order to save on pilotage fees going in and out of the marina as we are 499GT, in Singapore pilotage is compulsory for any vessel over 300GT.
Having settled onboard I started looking into the procedure for attaining said exemption and discovered it is possible to do by attending a course organised by Singapore Polytechnic at the Integrated Simulation Centre. The fee was not too exorbitant, 443SGD for the small vessel exemption course (300GT up to 2000GT in areas A & D, and up to 5000GT area B). For the large vessel exemption, it is basically same course but there is more red tape involved, all the information is on the MPA website.
The enrolling is very straight forward. Find one of the course suppliers, in this case St Engineering, download the form (for the intended course), fill it in, complement with the requested attachments and send it to the specified email address: lee (dot) peileng (at) stengg (dot) com (see on the form upper right corner).
Miniature outside the school
I was duly accepted and then next step I was asked to make payment for the course in advance. I did it and sent my proof of payment and asked if they had any material to study in advance. I got only the confirmation of received payment, no instructions of what to read.
Luckily, I got acquainted with another skipper who had done the course some time ago and he gave me his course material that, to be honest, was not much to go with. The first few pages more or less defined what was needed, and the rest was copied port marine notices.
Basically, the course is concentrating on the communication with authorities in Singapore, the number of sectors (9), anchorages (30), fairways (9), prohibited areas (17) and VHF channels (19) is pretty staggering considering the small area but then again maybe it is justified thinking of the huge amount of traffic that goes through Singapore. After all it is the busiest port in the world, if not no1, at least there topping the list.
In addition, with the course material you will need local charts, Singapore tide tables and the latest edition of Singapore port information. Although most things in Singapore is available online you will need these publications as they're necessary for vessels frequently calling Singapore.
I also found a link where one can train on various questions for getting a cruise permit, one will need to enter name and passport details to gain access. I believe they employ same kind of questions from same pool, if not same as in the simulation centre, for self-assessing your knowledge for doing cruising in Singapore waters.
Miniature inside the simulator center
Well, I got the course date for 22nd Aug and was otherwise busy in getting spares, crew and whatnot in order to get the yacht in working condition. Last time I had been frequently calling Singapore was in late 90's when I cruised in and out of Cruise Bay for overnight casino cruises. The geography was familiar, but the nitty gritty details were not. After the 90's I had only visited sporadically with yachts.
I reported in time at the polytechnic and soon found myself in the classroom with a bunch of Indonesian tugboat guys (for which the course is made for, and I think is the majority of attendees anyway) and our lecturer was an elderly ex pilot named Captain Hamzah, his teaching methods were quite basic, and the output did not give me much direction of what the exam was going to be about except everything.
Local daylight and night-time signals
The morning started about the way the test interface was working and then once we got into the actual info thing we started with the local circulars and notices continuing to pilot districts to VHF comm's and channels, reference points, then flag signals and lights for the night, followed by a bit of COLREG's, after which local primary buoys and beacons (name, light character & shape), restricted areas, height restrictions, towing restrictions, speed limits, UKC requirements, local current anomalies, weather patterns, usage of autopilot in port, semaphore tower at Raffles L/H and so on...
We only had the morning and by lunch we were going for the test, time was short too. No way could anyone coming out of the blue absorb the information that was being skimmed through at breakneck speed. Come 11.30hrs we were all seated behind a laptop and presented to a terminal where everyone got a set of 20 randomly picked questions from a pool of 400 or so I was told.
Campus canteen, lot of choice
The test was very easy, one tick per question (4 options) and move on, there was no way to go back and check your answers, time was given 24mins. My head felt like it was about to explode from all the information I had been thrown at all morning, so I was all pumped up for the test. As usual I was 1st to finish and left the classroom for lunch. I couldn't say if I had passed the 70% cutoff but I could say I didn't feel all too confident as there were several questions asking which VHF channel to use for which purpose and I hadn't concentrated too much on this (much more important knowing where you are and what hazards to expect under the water).
The student canteen was very cheap considering the prices elsewhere, only paid a few SGD for a plate of pork and rice, another for cold water. Having a coffee, I went back to the classroom to hear our verdict, unfortunately I had failed one too many questions, so I was just below 70%, so was a few other chaps.
Old bridge gear inside the simulation center
Oh well, the afternoon went in the simulator room and after some waiting, I was put to pilot a coaster into Cruise Bay from the TSS using the Sisters fairway. Said and done, I was conning and the instructor tried to send a lot of ships against me which I easily avoided by slowing down until they passed and onwards I sailed into the Sisters fairway. Then we got told to change con's and the Filipino chap that was with me got to be Skipper the rest of the way and I was doing the helm. As we finished the exercise, I was told I could reapply a retake for 21.40SGD and that's what I did when I returned back onboard.
My retake was scheduled for 14th Sept, so I had about 2 weeks to improve my local knowledge and VHF channels. On the 14th I was once again at campus reporting for our instructor, this time it was Captain Mohamed Harun. This gentleman had a very logical approach in explaining the same things Capt Hamzah had few weeks ago, but it made much more sense to me, he linked every restriction and limit to the relevant circular as well as explained the logic in the exam quiz, in some cases it was possible to wing it if you'd know what to look for. He also tallied all the anchorages in a linear order as well as the primary buoys and beacons. I got a few revelations during course of the morning.
Then it was again time for the test and in I went, I was definitely better prepared than last time, so I felt confident in doing the questions. Only 2 I was doubtful of, but it was enough to pass the mark. I was once again out of the classroom first and sat down to wait for the results. After a while the secretary appeared and told me I had gotten 90% right. Well, that was good news, I handed a picture over to the secretary who went back to her office to issue the certificate. By noon I was walking towards the train station with another piece of qualification to add to my CV.
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