Letter Writing

Don’t think this is on this post anywhere ? I wondered but can’t recollect the year now ? But the 2nd mates examination paper used to contain an English paper , and the pass Mark was 50% the lowest of any of the other papers. It was a simple question usually such as write a business letter on such and such a subject. Think it was to prove you had enough literacy for your future role. It was the only English paper in the certificate structure . It was discarded from the syllabus later and I always wondered why. Preparation for foreign crews maybe ? Something I was always aware of on foreign flag vessels was the lack of knowledge of English from the highest to the lowest. Most of the foreign flag vessels I brought down from the Singapore Shipping graveyard to work on the Australian coast were fitted with an alarm from the Bridge to the masters cabin , and if the O.O.W. Did not press the button every so set period of time an alarm would ring , and I would have to run up to the bridge and put the OOW on the shake in theory. It made me wonder at the standard of watchkeeping with 3 world crews on these vessels, especially when one heard of the numerous collisions of today. The English paper was also the first failing paper , fail that and you failed to the lot. JS