MARITIME UNIVERSITY OF CONSTANTA

FACULTY OF NAVAL ELECTROMECHANICS

DEPARTMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

MARITIME ENGLISH
Students Coursebook (1-st year, 1-st term)

Course Coordinator:
Lect. dr. MIRCEA GEORGESCU

CONTENTS
UNIT 1. TRAINING AND THE STCW CONVENTION
Objectives of Unit 1
1.1
STCW95 requirements to all seafarers
1.1.1 What is STCW?
1.1.2 STCW Training
1.1.3 English language requirements
1.2
Present simple and progressive
1.3
Sentence structure and punctuation
Self-assessment test
Progress test
Answers to self-assessment test
Bibliography/Webography
UNIT 2. SHIPS
Objectives of Unit 2
2.1
Types of ship
2.2
Articles definite, indefinite
2.3
Travel arrangements for joining ship
2.4
Phrases for greeting and introducing people
2.5
Going to and will
Self-assessment test
Progress test
Answers to self-assessment test
Bibliography/Webography
UNIT 3. SHIP DESCRIPTION
Objectives of Unit 3
3.1
The main parts of a ship
3.2
Phrases for giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing
3.3
Applied terminology: Terms relating to the hull
Self-assessment test
Progress test
Answers to self-assessment test
Bibliography/Webography
UNIT 4. SHIPS ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION
Objectives of Unit 4
4.1
Ships departments
4.2
The deck department
4.3
The engine department
4.4
Function
Self-assessment test
Progress test
Answers to self-assessment test
Bibliography/Webography
UNIT 5. CLASSIFICATION OF MERCHANT SHIPS
Objectives of Unit 5
5.1
Types of merchant ships
5.2
Logical connectives

5.3
Applied terminology: terms relating to a ships hull
Self-assessment test
Progress test
Answers to self-assessment test
Bibliography/Webography
UNIT 6. SHIP OPERATION
Objectives of Unit 6
6.1
How merchant ships operate
6.2
Expressing apology
6.3
Time relaters
6.4
Abbreviations
Self-assessment test
Progress test
Answers to self-assessment test
Bibliography/Webography
UNIT 7. SHIPYARD ACTIVITIES
Objectives of Unit 7
7.1
Building ships
7.2
Passives
7.3
Time relaters (2)
7.4
Substitutes, compounds
Self-assessment test
Progress test
Answers to self-assessment test
Bibliography/Webography

Preface

This course is designed for 1st year students (1st term) at the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering in Constanta Maritime University. The course aims to meet the basic
communication requirements as laid down in the relevant sections of the IMO International
Convention on Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers
(STCW), 1978/95.
The seven units of the course cover language work specific to the topic of each unit
and assumes an intermediate knowledge of English.
The topics cover the essentials a ship officer in a multilingual crew needs to master in
order to successfully meet the communication requirements at sea and in ports. The course
lays emphasis on the basic nautical vocabulary. In order to assist maritime students, the
course aims on the one hand to develop within maritime related topics, speaking, listening,
and writing skills and on the other hand to build up the students vocabulary of maritime
terms and expressions.
At the end of the course the students show understanding of the differences in form
and meaning between present tenses,

use phrases for giving opinions, agreeing and

disagreeing, and name the members of the crew and their duties.