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A helm order given unclearly, or understood a beat too late, can cost a ship a collision or a grounding. On the bridge, English comes out in short, standardised phrases — there’s no room for loose paraphrasing, only exact repetition of the order. Let’s go through what an officer of the watch and a helmsman both need to know cold.
Why it’s a critical topic
Unlike everyday English, bridge commands have a fixed form set out in the IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases. Deviating from the standard wording — even if it’s grammatically correct — can be misheard over noise, over a loudhailer, or through a weak radio signal. That’s why interviews and real work value precision and predictability of speech over eloquence.
Key helm orders
The helmsman must repeat every order out loud before carrying it out — this is called to “echo the order”.
- Midships — rudder amidships
- Port / starboard ten — ten degrees of port or starboard helm
- Hard-a-port / hard-a-starboard — full rudder to port or starboard
- Steady — maintain the current heading
- Steady as she goes — hold the present heading as the ordered course
Handing over the watch
The “handover” is a moment of elevated risk, so the briefing to the relieving officer needs to be structured and complete.
- “Present course and speed” — the ship’s current course and speed
- “Traffic in the vicinity” — vessels nearby
- “Any standing orders from the Master” — instructions from the captain in force for this watch
- “Navigational hazards ahead” — hazards along the intended track
Standard watch reports
The officer of the watch reports to the captain regularly, briefly, and in a fixed format, with no filler: “Captain, radar contact bearing 045, distance 6 miles, CPA 0.3 miles”.
Actions in restricted visibility
Entering fog, orders and reports become more frequent, and the wording becomes even more standardised:
- “Reduce speed to manoeuvring speed” — slow to a speed suitable for manoeuvring
- “Post a lookout forward” — station a lookout at the bow
- “Sound fog signal” — begin sounding the fog signal
How to train this English
- Practise helm orders out loud in pairs — one person gives the order, the other echoes it back.
- Study the SMCP as a system, not a phrase list — most reports follow the same underlying template.
- Rehearse watch handovers using the standard structure rather than a free-form summary of the situation.
- At interviews, be ready to demonstrate the actual echo of an order, not just translate it.
Conclusion
Bridge English is a discipline, not a measure of fluency. At Sea Service, we drill helm orders and watch reports until they’re automatic, so that on a real bridge there’s no room for doubt about whether a phrase came out right.