STEP CHANGE FOR SAFETY GLOBAL SHARING DEC 2013 - SAFE NAVIGATION | Page 35

Authorised User (see Terms and Conditions): Member of North of England P&I Association

INTRODUCTION
Collisions are among the most high profile of all maritime accidents. The number of collisions and their
cost, in personal and financial terms, has increased in recent years and ‘human error’ seems to be the
only common factor.
THE COLREGS

necessary steps to avoid or minimise that risk.
The aim of this guide is to deliver that message by encouraging discussion
between all watchkeepers, from cadets to masters and inspecting officers. We
learn best from our experience and from the experience of the people around
us, and there is no better way of understanding COLREGs than through
discussion, whether in bridge team meetings, at onboard training sessions,
during a quiet watch or in the mess room.

Collisions should not happen but they do; sometimes with disastrous
consequences. Proper application of the International Regulations for
Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGs) by every watchkeeper on every
vessel is the only way to reduce the risk of collision. Indeed, if the regulations
are followed to the letter, then a collision should never occur.
Today’s watchkeeper is required to gather, understand and appraise
information from a range of sources; from sophisticated radar, automatic
radar plotting aids (ARPA), electronic chart display and information systems
(ECDIS), automatic identification systems (AIS) and global positioning
systems (GPS) to compass bearings, visual sightings and sound signals. This
information is the starting point of a decision making process and the watch
keeper must then apply the COLREGs to the factual situation in order to
identify the correct steps leading to the correct outcome.

KEY RULES
This is not a textbook on the COLREGs. Rather, it is a focus for discussion
of those regulations that we at North believe are the key to collision avoidance
and which we see breached time and again when collisions occur.
We think the rules that are discussed in this guide are the ones which
are most often misinterpreted and misapplied. We hope that this guide will
demonstrate how these rules fit together and how the interpretation and
application of each of them can be influenced, sometimes wrongly, by the vast
mass of information now available from electronic aids to navigation.
At the end of the guide are collision case studies and simple plotting
sheets which you can use to illustrate developing situations. We hope that the
case studies and the questions they ask will be the starting point for wideranging discussions on all aspects of collision avoidance.

IDENTIFYING RISK
The concept of the ‘risk of collision’ is a key feature of the COLREGs.
The risk of collision must be identified, assessed and avoided at all times and
this is the responsibility of every watchkeeping officer on every vessel.
The best lesson you can learn from this guide is to acknowledge the
watchkeeper’s responsibility to identify a ‘risk of collision’ and to take all

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