Helm orders in English (SMCP)
1The lesson in plain words
Wheel orders use standard SMCP English. Repeat each order, carry it out at once, and hold it until a new order replaces it.
The rules
The SMCP says every wheel order is repeated by the helmsperson, carried out at once, and held until countermanded: until a new order replaces it. Report at once if the ship does not answer the wheel. Rudder angles are spoken as whole numbers, ‘ten’, ‘twenty’, while courses are spoken figure by figure.
Rudder angle orders
‘Port five’, ‘starboard ten’, and so on up to ‘twenty-five’ mean put that many degrees of rudder on that side and hold it. ‘Hard-a-port’ or ‘hard-a-starboard’ means rudder fully over. ‘Midships’ means hold the rudder at zero degrees, in line with the ship. ‘Ease to ten’ means reduce the rudder to ten degrees on the same side and hold it. Watch the rudder angle indicator, the gauge that shows where the rudder really is.
Checking the swing
‘Meet her’ means use opposite rudder to slow or stop the ship’s turn. ‘Steady’ means reduce the swing as quickly as possible. ‘Steady as she goes’ means steer the heading the ship has at that moment: repeat the order, call out the heading, and when she is steady report ‘Steady on …’. ‘Nothing to port’ means do not let the ship’s head go to port of the course; ‘nothing to starboard’ is the opposite.
Other orders
‘Keep the buoy on the port side’ asks you to steer so that the mark passes on that side. ‘Report if she does not answer the wheel’ asks you to watch for a slow response. ‘Finished with wheel’, or ‘no more steering’, ends steering duty, for example when the ship is secured alongside. If the OOW asks ‘What is your heading?’, answer ‘My heading is … degrees.’
The loop in practice
OOW: ‘Starboard twenty.’ You: ‘Starboard twenty.’ You turn the wheel and, when the indicator shows it, report ‘Wheel starboard twenty.’ Many ships expect this last report; follow your master’s standing orders. The OOW confirms, for example ‘Thank you.’
2Key data
- Rudder orders
- Port/starboard 5, 10, 15, 20, 25; hard-a-port/starboard
- Midships
- Rudder held at zero degrees, in line with the ship
- Steady
- Reduce the swing as quickly as possible
- Meet her
- Use opposite rudder to slow or stop the ship’s turn
- Nothing to port
- Do not let the head go to port of the course
- Source
- IMO SMCP (Res. A.918(22)), A2/1 Standard wheel orders
3Key points
- 1
Repeat every wheel order, carry it out at once and hold it until a new order.
- 2
Rudder angles are said as numbers, ‘ten’, ‘twenty’; courses figure by figure.
- 3
‘Ease to ten’: reduce to ten degrees on the same side and hold it.
- 4
‘Steady as she goes’: steer the present heading and report ‘Steady on …’.
- 5
Report at once if the ship does not answer the wheel.
4Frequent mistakes
Wrong: ‘Ease to ten’ means take ten degrees off the rudder.
Right: It means bring the rudder back to ten degrees on the same side and hold it there.
Wrong: ‘Steady’ and ‘Steady as she goes’ mean the same.
Right: ‘Steady’ means stop the swing as quickly as possible. ‘Steady as she goes’ means steer the heading at the moment of the order and report it.
Wrong: Once the rudder reaches the ordered angle, I bring it back to midships.
Right: Hold the ordered rudder until the OOW gives a new order. Wheel orders are held until countermanded.
5Practice case & exam keys
The ship is turning to starboard with starboard twenty on. The OOW orders ‘Ease to ten’, then ‘Midships’, then ‘Steady as she goes’. The heading is 087° at the last order. What do you do and say?
Show the answer
Repeat each order and carry it out: reduce to starboard ten and hold, then put the rudder midships, then use rudder as needed to hold the heading of that moment. Call out ‘Steady as she goes, zero eight seven.’ When she is steady, report ‘Steady on zero eight seven.’ The OOW acknowledges each report.
Exam keys
- SMCP A2/1: wheel orders are repeated, carried out at once and held until countermanded.
- Midships, port/starboard 5–25, hard-a-port/starboard, ease to, meet her, steady.
- Steady = reduce swing quickly; steady as she goes = steer the present heading, then report ‘Steady on’.
- Nothing to port/starboard = do not let the head go that side of the course.
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