Donal wrote:

Many people view the rules from their own perspective. Many sailors think
that power gives way to sail, even uf the sailboat is the overtaking vessel.
Commercial seamen tend to behave as if they were in a TSS, even when they
are not (a real issue in my waters). Fishermen leave a basket permanently
fixed aloft.

I had a power boat for 10 years, and five years ago I changed to sail. I
find it truly astonishing that these two groups can be so completely
ignorant of the other.

They're not ignorant of each other, in most cases, but may have
developed different ways of handling each other.
There tend to be two basic situations involving ships and small boat
meetings. The one on one, open ocean, where hopefully the ship sees the
small boat (we all know that conditions may not make this easy) and
reacts according to the rules .... no real excuse not to .... and the
area where there are many small boats around going in all directions
(this applies to fishing fleets also).
In the latter case, experience has taught many of us, that the best plan
of attack is to maintain course and speed, and eg (you didn't hear me
say this) screw the rules. Why? Simply stated, a particular small boat
may only be seeing the ship and it's collision course, where as, from
the bridge, the ship sees numerous small boats on collision course, and
to maneuver for one may throw a whole bunch of other's into trouble.
Problem is, some ships have carried this "hold course" to all conditions
of meeting small boats ( Some may use this to say rule 2 applies), which
though not correct, is a fact of life the small boater must deal with
.....I won't go in to who's to blame for this condition.


I would estimate that 2/3rds of ships were not sounding their horns the last
time that I crossed in fog.

I find this number hard to believe, but my familiarity with the area is
distant and only a few times, so I can't comment from a shipboard
perspective.


Frequently, actions which apparently, only threaten the particular
individual, acting stupidly, end up threatening the lives of many who
are now tasked with saving his/her stupid butt.


I understand this point of view. However, on balance, I think that
personal freedom is more important.

Sorry, killing 3 people, in a vain attempt to save one fool, rubs me
wrong. I realize that people get caught in conditions the could not have
planned for, but too many people are using their "personal freedoms" to
act irresponsibly and without thought as to the consequences.




He's doing 25 kts in thick fog, in a busy waterway. He isn't keeping a
proper lookout. He is in blatant breach of the CollRegs. He *is* a

menace.

He's doing 25k in fog .... you don't know whether it's a "busy
waterway", you assume.


I was under the impression that he was talking about a major river, and that
it was a fairly busy part. of the river.

My guess is he was talking about the Mississippi, possibly a departure
area of "The Jump", which is a busy area, but 99% is commercial, and
talks freely to each other. The other area was the Houston Ship Channel
..... a mixed bag of traffic, again, highly regulated, with known areas
of "recreational traffic". In either area, depending on the boat,
operator, equipment, etc., I would not consider 25k to necessarily be
bad or good.

You also don't know how good a visual lookout he
is keeping, be it on his own or with additional eyeballs, even though
his main reliance may be the radar .... hence, you don't know whether he
is or is not a menace.


He has stated that he is the only lookout, and that he is only watching the
Radar, and listening to the VHF. He claims that this meets the CollRegs'
requirement for a lookout by both "sight and hearing".

Different commercial operations, world wide will run under different
conditions ...1,2,3, however many people.
Having done the "one man" as well as many others, I cannot say that a
particular system is unsafe, although I prefer numerous "mark one
eyeballs" when possible. I DO disagree with anyone who is acting as
radar observer to be totally and solely immersed in the radar,
especially if they are the only one at the controls, but even then, the
conditions may warrant such actions ..... main point .... without being
there at the time, it's extremely hard to say what is/was correct or
incorrect..... or complied with the rules, for the conditions.


In most cases, you will find the various nations, will act on cases
within their jurisdiction. The findings/verdicts of these "nation"
courts will become "International" precedence, for other cases. The
"little court in Boston" will not necessarily override the IMO rules,
but will decide how they apply to the particular case they are handling,
which may be used as "precedence" for other cases in other "nations".


This would surprise me! I don't think that I've ever heard of a British
court using a foreign court's ruling as "precedent". The only exception is
where an internarional treaty has ceded soverignity is a specific area, and
a court has been established under the terms of the treaty. eg Human
Rights issues can be decided by the Internation Court of Human Rights as
long as Britian remains a signatory to the treaty. I don't know that an
IMO court exists.

EG NO comment on British courts. I think here we would need someone
familiar with "Admiralty Law" to comment. In the US, I believe it's the
Federal Courts which hear and pass on most cases, regarding maritime
matters, not State courts. The precedence for maritime matters go way
back over centuries, and doubtfully, any maritime nation, would not need
to go out of it's own country to find the needed precedence for a
particular case, but there is nothing to say they won't or can't (This
was my weakest subject at school).
I believe, also, that the IMO, falls under an international treaty ....
again, I mention this only to emphasize that I don't think this is in
the nature of one country trying to supersede or over ride,
international law ....this would be a whole other thread.



My disagreement with Jeff and Joe, is that they think that big ships can
assume that the area is clear of small vessels because "they have no
business being there",

Your impression ..... I did not get the same. You can never assume that
some idiot may not be rowing across the Atlantic (fools seem to try it
regularly, nowadays). What you do is make your decisions and base your
actions on the probabilities, and never lose sight of the fact you may
be wrong .... it's a juggling act, which unfortunately doesn't always
work out in your favor .... just like so many things we do.


or because "looking at the Radar screen *is* keeping
a lookout by sight".

I think you will find this issue being argued more and more ..... what's
apt to give you the best warning in fog? A constant visual out the
window look, a constant radar watch, or a split between the two?

Honestly! I've seen this close up. I've come close enough to big ships to
be able to see that there was nobody on the forward part of the deck, when
the ship wasn't sounding a fog horn. Why do you think that I get wound up
about it? That's why I bought a radar.

You may be right, you may not have been able to see him, the conditions
may be such that it's unsafe to have a lookout on the bow, etc..
As to the fog horn, I've run well offshore along the US West Coast
(50-100mi) in thick fog for days on end ....shut the damn thing off
.....if someone comes close or you think you may have a target, resume
sounding. Again, I don't know the conditions you were under, think your
numbers are high, but can't really comment.

I had a chat with an ex-merchant mariner (navigator). He explained that
British flagged vessels maintained higher standards than vessels registered
under flags of convenience. He said that British flagged vessels always
had at least two people on the bridge, and would always post a lookout "on
the bow" in fog.

G As would any recognized maritime nation. However, FOC is becoming,
and possibly always has been a myth. It should be COC (Company of
Convenience). FOC is no guarantee that you are dealing with some third
rate ship or crew, nor is the fact that a ship registered in a "Maritime
Nation" any indication that it will be ( though an indication) well run.
I've been aboard too many ship's of all flags in the past dozen years to
believe otherwise.



the point may be valid
in some circumstances, but not all. If a ship were to proceed at all
times, based on the fact that a kayak may be there, then it might's well
drop anchor at some wreckers yard, cause it ain't goin anywhere at a
rate of speed that could make it a viable option to carry cargo.


I've answered this point a few times already. I really don't expect the
shipping to come to a halt. I definitely believe that they should maintain
steerageway, and quite honestly, if they slow down to 12 kts, then they are
at least playing the game.

In truth, would it make a difference if the ship was doing 12k or 25k in
fog if it suddenly spotted a kayak? .... 6k? .... bare steerageway?

If they are running a TSS, they are expecting (rightly or wrongly) that
this is their 2mi (or whatever) wide lane where they should be able to
be safe from vessel's that don't belong there in a way that impedes
their progress. They are doing their part by staying in their lane, they
expect the small boat to do theirs and stay out of the lane or at least
not impede their passage.
Do you see all the possible errors in this way of thinking? Do you see
all the possible errors in thinking a kayak has any business in a TSS in
fog?
All arguments aside ..... don't expect a ship to slow in fog, be blowing
fog signals, have a lookout on the bow ....expect the worst, and avoid a
TSS like the plague, in all conditions of visibility.

You can't have it both ways. Are you talking fog or clear visibility?
If you are talking fog, then I disagree.....arguably.


Very arguably! Fog can roll in in a few minutes. It can happen when it
is not forecast. There is an inshore lane in the Solent which runs very
close to the shore ( 200 yards???). It would be very plausable for a kayak
to get caught on the wrong side. It would be downright stupid for the
kayak not to make for shore.

Don't know the area. It may be less stupid to stay where he is. If he
decides to go across, he must understand that he is equally responsible
to avoid collision, and he must take all precautions within his power to
do so, realizing that he will be a highly invisible target, both on
radar and visually.

The kayak must not impede the ship, and the ship must travel at a safe
speed.

How can anyone claim that the ship is excused her obligations, but that the
kayak will be shown no mercy at all?

No one's saying that ... the ship and the kayak deserve the same
"mercy", the ship and kayak have the same responsibilities, and both
must understand their limitations and the total number of possible
repercussions .... problem is ..... ship meets kayak in fog, kayak
loses, and ship probably won't have a clue it was there.

Jeff has suggested that the CollRegs have an intrinsic bias towards
commercial vessels, and therefore he says that the ship may proceed at an
unsafe speed, whereas the kayak should stay where he is until the fog
clears.

I think I'm the one who suggested staying where he is. The Colregs were
originally written to cover larger vessels. It's been years of trying to
change and adapt them to include the burgeoning population of small
recreational vessels, with sometimes questionable results.
I don't think Jeff has stated that a vessel may proceed at an unsafe
speed, but rather that the speed that the ship may consider safe, may
not be the speed that YOU consider safe





A speeding ship, without a proper lookout, cannot *guarantee* that it

won't

collide with a small vessel that doesn't show up on its radar.

A slow moving ship with a proper lookout, cannot guarantee that it won't
collide with a small vessel that doesn't show up on it's radar.

snip
I agree. However, the kayak is not in breach of the rules until it
actually "impedes" a large vessel in a TSS.

It may be, by being there, if there was an alternate course of action
possible.

Jeff has argued that the kayak is in breach because it cannot "guarantee"
that it will not impede.

Possibly true


It was late! I don't believe that national courts can reach conclusions
that affect the interpretation of the CollRegs in other jurisdictions(sp?).
Jeff has mentioned a local court a few times, and I don't see how that has
any bearing on the subject. Nevertheless, I would be willing to read, and
comment on, the case if someone provides a link.

I think you may not be understanding which national courts may be being
discussed ..... again, we need to have an "Admiralty" lawyer comment on
this area.

otn

phew