“Correct on the CO2. But ventilation shutdown comes before you pull the pin. The answer is sequence. Fire needs oxygen. Cut the air, then the fire. Ten points.”

The Seagull wasn’t just any cargo ship. It was a floating classroom for the Coastal Bureau of Transport (CBT), and today was General Safety Answers day—the most dreaded exam on the seven seas.

Captain Vane shook her head. The Seagull was equipped with a CBT-certified emergency sealant foam. “Wrong. You triangulate the leak, deploy foam, and call it in. Abandoning ship is answer four, not answer one. Panic kills. Procedure saves.”

“Question one,” she boomed over the intercom. “Your ship is taking on water faster than the pumps can clear. What is the first general safety answer?”