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NPORS Marine Knuckle Boom Crane Training (N014)
A knuckle boom crane folds into almost nothing and reaches round obstructions a straight boom cannot, which is exactly why it suits a vessel deck or a quayside. It also means the operator is managing two joints, a moving platform underneath them and a load that does not stay still. Two days for a novice, run on request where the crane is.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N014 Marine Knuckle Boom Crane different
About this course
The NPORS N014 Marine Knuckle Boom Crane category covers the articulated boom cranes fitted to vessels, quaysides and offshore installations. The boom folds at a knuckle rather than telescoping in a straight line, which lets it stow compactly, work under obstructions and place a load into a hold or alongside a structure that a straight boom could not reach.
Two days covers the crane and what governs it: the pedestal or mounting, the inner and outer boom and the slew, the hydraulics and the winch, the hook and the accessories, and the safety devices including the load limiter. Then the duties chart, which on a knuckle boom is a more involved thing to read than on a telescopic machine because the capacity depends on the position of both boom sections as well as the radius.
The rest is the environment. A crane mounted on a vessel is working from a platform that moves, and even alongside there is movement with tide, wash and the loading of the ship. Loads swing over water. Deck space is short and people are close. Communication is by radio, often with the load out of the operator's sight. On top of that sit the statutory duties and the operator's own pre use checks, along with the thorough examination regime the crane and its accessories fall under.
- The machine: pedestal or mounting, inner and outer boom, slew, hydraulics, winch, hook and attachments, and the load limiter
- Reading a knuckle boom duties chart, where capacity depends on the position of both boom sections as well as the radius
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, and the documentation the crane should have with it
- Lifting from and onto a deck: vessel movement, tide and wash, and the effect of load swing over water
- Exclusion zones on a crowded deck or quay, communication by radio, and lifting where the load is out of sight
- Slinging, accessory selection and inspection, securing loads for sea passage where that applies, and stowing the crane
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N014 Marine Knuckle Boom Crane category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- A traditional NPORS card for marine, port and offshore support work, or the CSCS logo version where operators also work construction sites and hold a current CITB Health, Safety and Environment test
- Operators who read the chart for the boom position they are actually in rather than the one they remember
- A consistent standard across a deck crew or a quayside team, which is what a client audit asks for
Who should attend?
Deck crew, bosuns, quayside and port staff, offshore support and workboat operators, marine contractors, dredging and harbour authority teams, and yard staff working knuckle boom cranes ashore. Most candidates are already working around the crane and need the category on a card. If your machine is a lorry mounted crane on a vehicle rather than a marine crane, the N107 Lorry Loader is the category that covers it, and for a ship to shore container crane it is the N105 Quay Crane.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen, fit enough for deck or quayside work, and able to follow spoken and written English for the theory test and for radio communication, though interpreters can be arranged on request. There is no prior card requirement. Vessel and offshore work carries its own medical, survival and induction requirements which are set by your employer and the vessel operator and sit outside this course. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you. Tell us at enquiry what crane you have and where it is mounted.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the crane, the chart and the environment, then the rest of the time on the machine lifting to and from the deck, with testing at the end.
The crane, the chart and the environment
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, LOLER 1998, PUWER 1998 and BS 7121 as they apply to marine cranes
- The operator's responsibilities and place in the lifting team, including the right to refuse an unsafe lift
- Machine components: pedestal or mounting, inner and outer boom, slew, hydraulics, winch, hook and attachments
- Safety devices including the load limiter, and what they do and do not prevent
- Reading duties charts for an articulated boom, and the effect of boom position as well as radius
- Load assessment, lifting points, slings and accessories, their marking, certification and inspection
- Vessel movement, tide and wash, load swing over water and the consequences of a load in the water
- Exclusion zones on deck and quay, radio communication, blind lifts and adverse weather limits
Working the crane
- Pre use checks of the crane, the hydraulics, the wire and the accessories, and defect reporting
- Safe access to the control position and setting the crane to work
- Deploying the boom and confirming the chart for the position and radius in use
- Lifting to and from the deck, over the side and into confined deck space
- Controlling swing, working to radio direction and landing loads accurately
- Stowing the crane, securing it and shutting down at the end of the shift
Method of assessment
How the N014 marine knuckle boom crane test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. Training and assessment run together, with the practical covering pre use checks, controlled lifting to and from the deck and stowing the crane.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many operators, where the crane is, how it is mounted and what you lift. Three sit it with one instructor and one machine. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We decide who is a novice and who is due a refresher, agree whether a traditional NPORS card or the CSCS logo version suits your work, and take the details NPORS need for registration.
3. Training
Classroom on the crane, the chart and the environment, then the rest of the time on the machine, at the berth or in the yard where it sits.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, machine components and safety devices, duties charts, accessories, vessel movement and exclusion zones.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, set the crane to work, lift to and from the deck under control including to radio direction, and stow the crane, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for the card, traditional or with the CSCS logo depending on where your operators work.
After the course
The deck crew around the crane
A marine crane lift involves more than the operator. Somebody rigs the load, somebody keeps the deck clear and somebody is on the radio when the load goes out of sight. Where those people are trained to the same standard the lift runs quietly, and where they are not the operator ends up guessing. The N402 Slinger Signaller covers the rigging and signalling end properly, including sling angles and accessory selection, and it is the natural companion card for a deck crew.
On the gear, LOLER applies to the crane and to the slings, shackles and strops on the deck. Accessories need a thorough examination at least every six months and other lifting equipment at least every twelve months, or in line with a written examination scheme, with a written report each time. Salt water is unkind to lifting gear, so marine operations tend to find this is where the paperwork slips. The N019 Report of Thorough Examination trains your own people to examine and record it.
- N402 Slinger Signaller for the deck crew rigging and signalling your lifts
- N019 Report of Thorough Examination for the slings and strops that live in a salt water environment
- N105 Quay Crane where the same operation also runs ship to shore cranes
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us only where the CSCS logo version of the card is needed
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N014 Marine Knuckle Boom Crane FAQs
A crane whose boom folds at a knuckle rather than telescoping in a straight line. That lets it stow compactly on a deck, work under obstructions and place loads into a hold or alongside a structure a straight boom could not reach. The trade off is that the operator is managing two boom sections and a chart that changes with both.
Two days for a novice, with three candidates, one instructor and one machine. The refresher is a single day. We confirm which route each person is on when you tell us their experience.
The NPORS test sheet does not set one out for this category, so we confirm the route with NPORS once we know what the candidate has already done. The routes it does list are a two day novice course and a one day refresher, and someone already operating the crane without a card would normally take the two days, which is not a long course by crane standards.
The boom arrangement is similar and a lorry loader is often a knuckle boom too, but they are separate NPORS categories. N014 is the marine crane mounted on a vessel, quayside or installation; N107 Lorry Loader is the vehicle mounted crane. The card has to match what you are operating.
Usually not for marine and offshore support work, where the traditional NPORS card is normally the right one. The logo exists for construction sites and depends on a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test that expires separately from the card. Where your people do also work construction we will book the test and take the logo version.
The category covers marine knuckle boom cranes including those on offshore installations, and the practical can be shaped around that. It does not cover the separate medical, survival and transfer requirements offshore work carries, which are set by your employer and the installation operator, and we will not suggest otherwise.
By treating it as part of the lift rather than an inconvenience. Vessel movement, tide, wash and the effect of a load swinging over water are covered in the theory and applied in the practical, along with the decision to stop when conditions make a lift unreasonable.
Yes, and we usually have to, since the crane is part of the vessel or the quay. We work around your sailing and cargo schedule rather than a course calendar, because there are no scheduled dates on any of our NPORS courses.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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