The captain will often ask the candidate during an Oral Exam, what precautions while bunkering your vessel, the following should be the answer the candidate gives;

(1) Know how much fuel is needed

(2) Have a man at the fuel intake on the vessel - so he can switch the fuel nozzle off

(3) Close all freeing ports, place cloths around them to prevent fuel going into the harbour

(4) Fit Save-alls, these are very good to prevent fuel going over your deck and going into the harbour (if you don't have a save-all, cut the lid off a 5 gallon oil drum and place this below the breather pipes)

(5) Have oil dispersant ready incase of spillages

(6) Have a foam fire-extinguisher ready in case of a fire

(7) No smoking signs erected

(8) No hot work to be carried out (welding or burning etc)

(9) Hoist code flag "Bravo"

(10) Place a floaty rope from the stem to the stern to catch any spillages

(11) Check the amount of fuel in the tanks often while refueling

(12) When the tanks are nearly full, stop the fuel intake for 2 - 3 minutes to allow the fuel to settle, this will help prevent a blow back of fuel

(13) If allowed, take slightly less fuel than required, the captain might say but wont this allow for FSE, but the fuel tanks are baffled to minimise FSE

(14) Log the amount of fuel taken onboard in the Oil Record Book