What signal constitutes a fire emergency on an OSV?

• A. A continuous blast of the ship's whistle for not less than 10 seconds, supplemented by the continuous ringing of the general alarm bells for not less than 10 seconds.
• B. Three short blasts followed by continuous alarm for 5 seconds
• C. A short blast followed by a long blast
• D. A whistle blast of four short blasts only

Answer: (C)

Fire emergencies on ships are signaled with a distinctive whistle pattern that is quick to hear and hard to mistake. A short blast followed by a long blast is used to indicate a fire on board. When you hear this sequence, the crew should immediately respond by rallying at muster stations, locating the fire, taking steps to control it (such as shutting ventilation if safe), readying firefighting equipment, and informing the bridge and other teams to bring in assistance. This pattern is chosen because it is clear, concise, and stands out from other signals like the general alarm, which is a continuous alarm and bells signal used for full-ship alerts. The other patterns either involve continuous alarm signals or different blast sequences that correspond to other procedures, so they are not the standard fire emergency signal on an OSV.