PART B - Steering and Sailing Rules, Section 1 Flashcards
Rule 4 : Application
Section 1 — Conduct of Vessels in any Condition of Visibility
Rules in this section apply in any condition of visibility.
Meaning: The above section applies to all vessels and under any condition of visibility that is good visibility as well as when under poor visibility whatever the cause may be.
Rule 5 : Look-out
Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.
Meaning: Lookout is very important and should take about 70 - 80% of the watch keeping officers time. The rest is to be the full appraisal of what he sees, and the action that is taken by him. Lookout is also for getting the feedback on the action that he or the other ship took to avoid the situation.
Look out means to see and understand the situation, by sight and hearing as well by other means which may be by Radar and GPS (position) and by any other electronic devices.
Appropriate in the prevailing conditions means - in condition of poor visibility, the Radar and ears may be the only means of detecting other vessels, here again, the range scale selection should be appropriate, if the vessel is in the middle of a fishing fleet there is no point keeping a watch on 12Nm range and only on one Radar. If 2 Radars exist then one should be set to a smaller range and the other on 12nm for detecting other vessels if only 1Radar is available then periodic switches have to be done between smaller scale and a longer scale.
In any case, the echo sounder the log the GPS and the chart and vessels charted position have to be also monitored. Because for a full appraisal of the situation, all factors have to be taken into consideration, can the own vessel alter to keep out of the way or is it better to slow down.
Rule 6: Safe Speed
Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.
In determining a safe speed the following factors shall be among those taken into account:-
Meaning:A very difficult statement ‘Safe Speed’. Any vessel, which is sailing has some speed and with that, it can cause trouble for others as well as to itself. If the speed is very low and the current is strong she may drift on to any other ship, so a low speed is out under these circumstances. If the speed is more and if the steering fails then she would move away from her course line onto a danger very fast without maybe even an emergency being realised.
So ‘safe speed’ means that the ship sails at a speed at which if any emergency occurs she would come out of the emergency without anybody getting injured.
The basic fact is that under any circumstances the speed should be such that the vessel can take an effective (avoid) action to avoid danger, this includes manoeuvring to keep out of the way or slowing down or stopping to allow another vessel to pass clearly.
In the open sea, ME slow down or stopping may not be required and a manoeuvre in good (well before closing in) time would be fine, but if the sea passage is narrow or the depth is less, then ME should also be on standby. Also if the current is strong or the visibility is poor, then in open sea the ME may be required, since the time of observing the vessel may be reduced.
It is likening to a person running on a racetrack, which is brightly lit - he runs at his maximum speed. Place the same person in a forest at night and then ask him to run, obviously, he would run taking into consideration that he may hit a tree or a branch or fall in a ditch. Depending on how well he is seeing he adjusts his speed.
Safe speed factors by all vessels
(a) By all vessels:-
i. The state of visibility;
The visibility, if the visibility is affected by any condition then adequate precautions should be taken and the M.E. may be required, the helmsman should also be stand by and if permissible the stand by steering motor switched on.
ii. The traffic density including concentration of fishing vessels or any other vessels;
If the traffic density is heavy, and a lot of ships are moving around then the ME has to be on standby. Since the vessel may have to take emergency measures to avoid danger. The alteration of courses may not be possible due to other vessels in the vicinity.
iii. The manoeuvrability of the vessel with special reference to stopping distance and turning ability in the prevailing conditions;
This relates to the peculiar maneuvering characteristics of different vessels, a large fully laden tanker may have stopped her engines after being on full ahead, she then takes emergency action to stop the vessel by going emergency full astern, but the momentum of the vessel is such that she would come to a full stop condition only after traveling a further distance of maybe a mile. A smaller cargo vessel or the same tanker on ballast in such a condition may have stopped in the water in a distance of maybe less that quarter of a mile.
Again a large tanker fully laden will take a lot of time to initially begin her turn after the wheel is put hard over, and once the vessel starts her swing she keeps swinging and to stop her swing it takes a lot of time wherein the ship may have done a near 360° turn and landed up in another critical situation. A smaller vessel or the same tanker on ballast may not have such problem.
iv. At night the presence of background light such as from shore lights or from back scatter of her own lights;
The above refers to the state of visibility, a vessel when she leaves a port is surrounded by a lot of bright shore lights, and her navigation lights may be cluttered up with these lights. A lookout on another vessel would not be able to see the vessel departing the port until shecomes to a position where the background is dark.
The second case refers to backscatter of a vessel’s own lights. Backscatter of ships lights is the effect of a brightly lit ship (say at anchor or at sea with the bridge front port holes not covered). The light, which emanates from these sources pick up the microscopic particles of the atmosphere and they are seen as a filter before an observer’s vision. In cases where this filter is bright, it may obscure a distant vessels navigation lights and a look out may detect the vessel when she is quite close.
v. The state of wind, sea and current, and the proximity of navigational hazards;
In rough weather with high winds and waves it is difficult to quickly alter the course of a ship the wind and/or the waves prevent the alteration, as such, the helmsman used to giving a particular helm to alter a course may find that the ship either does not turn or turns very slowly, the correcting helm also is different than usual.
A current also makes a ship behave in the above manner.
A danger mark or a shallow patch would cause a vessel to alter course less than is required, as such the need for a ship to be within manageable speed, where she can be brought out of one danger without her landing up in another difficult situation.
vi. The draught in relation to the available depth of water.
As stated previously the draught in relation to the depth of water - a deep drafted vessel under the circumstances, has to take special precautions in maintaining her speed, her draft is more, thus the sea room available for her to take effective action to avoid a close quarter situation is less. Speed thus has to be controllable and the ship if required has to be stopped short of danger.
Safe speed by vessels with operational radar:-
(b) Additionally, by vessels with operational radar:-
Today this refers to practically all ocean-going vessels. When it is stated that the vessel has a Radar, it implies that the Radar is fully functional and may be used to keep a Radar watch. And a good Radar lookout can be kept on it.
i. The characteristics, efficiency, and limitations of the radar equipment;
A functional Radar may not be operating at its peak performance, maybe the magnetron has become old, or the centre of the PPI is burnt out or any other causes where the Radar has got peculiarities which are readily apparent to a new observer but may be overlooked by an old ship hand. The Mast and the funnel cast Radar shadows and for a particular ship, the watch keepers have to take that into consideration. These peculiarities may in emergencies cause other vessel’s not to be tracked by the Radar.
ii. Any constraints imposed by the radar range scale in use;
Sometimes a Radar may be fully functional and good but it may have a defect that is it may not detect vessel’s at a certain range or may be not very good at low ranges or on higher ranges.
iii. The effect on radar detection of the sea state, weather and other sources of interference;
Clutter, a nuisance especially when it is least wanted. Rain clutter is the raindrops sending their reflection back to the observer who is more interested in detecting the ships. Rain clutter may completely obscure an entire region of the horizon on Radar, thus any ships within that particular region will not be detected. Increasing the Rain clutter control on the Radar will reduce the rain clutter but will also remove weak targets.
Sea clutter is another hazard, this is affecting more around the proximity of the ship than rain clutter, but the effect is the same, the vessels (especially small or when the aspect is poor) are obscured.
Other sources include soot from the funnel. Which can seriously impair the performance of the Radar.
iv. The possibility that small vessels, ice and other floating objects may not be detected by radar at an adequate range;
Every modern Radar has a selective clutter control, where the logic is that, the microprocessor within the Radar once it detects a target predicts the next position of the target, if the target fails to appear it removes the target, of course, this sequence is not in one sweep but in about 5 sweeps, thus a small vessel if it appears inconsistently, then the Radar will not detect it.
For Ice it is different, the ice reflects the EM wave in a direction that is not towards the scanner and is thus lost and the observer does not see the Ice.
v. The number, location and movement of vessels detected by radar;
In areas of high traffic density, keeping track of what each ship is doing and also assessing the ship with the most potential risk factor is a demanding task. However with a Radar tracking unit or an ARPA, the same can be achieved very easily. The only carefulness that has to be exercised is that the risk factor set data as presented by the Radar should be evaluated. And an understanding of the situation has to be done.
vi. The more exact assessment of the visibility that may be possible when radar is used to determine the range of vessels or other objects in the vicinity.
Since Radar observation is not affected to that extent as observation by sight by poor visibility, using the Radar, one should do an assessment of the visibility and note down at what range the target was actually seen by the observer.
Earlier visibility was estimated by guess work (experience some may call it), but with Radar, it is an exact figure, also visibility is not the same all around the ship especially in rain, as such more exact assessment may be done by using the Radar.
Rule 7 :Risk of collision
a. Every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances arid conditions to determine if risk of collision exists. If there is any doubt such risk shall be deemed to exist.
A famous sentence in the Master’s Night Order book was ‘Whenever in doubt, call me’. This holds true with the above Rule. If the watch keeper is in any doubt even the slightest, he should assume that such risk exists and would have to act according to the Rules.
Of course in judging such risk, he has to take into consideration the conditions at that time - state of sea, traffic density, visibility etc.
All available means to assess the risk, means all that is available to the watch keeper - visual bearings, Radar tracking or observations and plot, sound signals, VHF traffic, and the like.
In doing the above the chart should be studied, since this will give an indication of the course that the other vessel may be following to either head to or from a port or TSS.
Taking all the above the watch keeper has to judge whether even a slight risk exists and if this slight chance does exist then he shall note that RISK does exist.
b. Proper use shall be made of radar equipment if fitted and operational, including long-range scanning to obtain early warning of risk of collision and radar plotting or equivalent systematic observation of detected objects.
Radar is an AID to navigation and its use today is mandatory and essential. The Radar should be used so long as it is functional to warn the watch keeper of the danger in as great a time interval as possible. This implies that the Radar has to be used for long range scanning to detect the ships and do a radar plot to determine whether the ship would pose any hazard or not.
Further even if the ARPA is not working the bearing and distance off if plotted would give a fair idea of the risk of collision. The bearing may not be very accurate (see Radar) but over a period of time this in accurate bearing would still indicate whether such risk exists or not. Radar Plotting of course is very helpful in assessing the above. And this is termed as systematic observation.
c. Assumptions shall not be made on the basis of scanty information, especially scanty radar information.
Scanty Radar information - if the target has been observed once in a while then the assessment is not correct. The plot is required and then the plot has to be checked by following it up by further observations.
ARPA readings may not be accurate in the first set of figures, the ARPA also keeps predicting and updating the figures. Small vessels often disappear from Radar, it does not mean that the ship was never there and that it was a false echo.
Target swap takes place frequently on Radar, this gives rise to scanty and wrong information.
Remember: after judging a vessel’s track and risk factor it has to be keenly observed to ensure that the data that the watch keeper has obtained is true.
d. In determining if risk of collision exists the following considerations shall be among those taken into account:
(i) Such risk shall be deemed to exist if the compass bearing of an approaching vessel does not appreciably change;
This fact is the most important. If the bearing changes for a ship at an appreciable range then the risk factor is less, however it has to be remembered that the change of bearing has to be appreciably or else the CPA would be insignificant and thus the risk would still exist.
A small change should therefore be viewed with suspicion and a DOUBT should arise in the mind of the observer.
(ii) Such risk may sometimes exist even when an appreciable bearing change is evident, particularly when approaching a very large vessel or a tow or when approaching a vessel at close range.
As mentioned above the bearing change should be very evident, however sometimes this appreciably large change may not hold true for observations of large vessels which subtend a significant angle at the observer, if the bow was being observed and the aspect of the ship changes from end on to a side then too the bearing change would be evident but that does not mean that the risk does not exist, so for large vessel’s which subtend n angle at the observer care should be exercised.
The same holds true for vessels at close range and vessels in tow, where the entire tow and towed present a very large object.
Rule 8 :Action to avoid collision
(a) Any action to avoid collision shall be taken in accordance with the Rules of this Part and shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, be positive, made in ample time and with due regard to the observance of good seamanship.
Qualification of the action: The action should be positive meaning that it should result in the reduction of the risk of collision, not aggravate it.
Should be made in ample time, implying that the assessment should be done in time and obviously that means that the situation should have been observed for quite some time and from a great distance - distance also correlates to the time interval between the time of observation, assessment and the time of the action. No daydreaming and then a wake up call to take action. Be alert.
Good seamanship, here a departure may be made from the rules, if for vessel very far on the horizon, it is seen that the vessel lies fine to starboard, also it is noted that for own vessel to alter course to increase the CPA would mean closing in on another danger, then - note she has to be at least 30 mins into the future, the own vessel may alter her course drastically to PORT for some time to increase the CPA. Although it is not recommended, this action may be necessary under these circumstances, rather than land up in a situation where you have the vessel on your starboard and you cannot alter course any further to starboard.
(b) Any alteration of course and/or speed to avoid collision shall, if the circumstances of the case admit be large enough to be readily apparent to another vessel observing visually or by radar; a succession of small alterations of course and/or speed shall be avoided.
The alteration of course always has to be large enough to be readily apparent to the other vessel. Small changes are not noticeable to other vessels since, the aspect during day time and the navigation light aspect at night may not appreciably differ from what it was before the small alteration of course, the other vessel then would be in doubt as to whether you have taken action or not - panic may set in.
Regarding speed change it is still harder to figure out when a vessel reduces from 14 knots to 13 knots, it is apparent if a vessel reduces from 14 knots to directly 10 knots.
(c) If there is sufficient sea room, alteration of course alone may be the most effective action to avoid a close-quarters situation provided that it is made in good time, is substantial and does not result in another close-quarters situation.
Rather than speed alteration which being rather difficult to observe as such is difficult to assess the situation, and the apparent track remains the same. Thus a course alteration is much more effective in diffusing a dangerous situation and also is readily apparent to the other vessel - provided however that the alteration can be observed very easily by the other vessel.
The action should not be where the situation becomes worse, so it has to be done in time when the vessels are far away so that, the action taken can be further assessed, and ifrectification is required may be done.
(d) Action taken to avoid collision with another vessel shall be such as to result in passing at a safe distance. The effectiveness of the action shall be carefully checked until the other vessel is finally past and clear.
As explained above, all actions have to be assessed after taking them. All actions should diffuse the dangerous situation and the passing of the vessels should be with as wide a margin as possible under the conditions.
(e) If necessary to avoid collision or allow more time to asses the situation, a vessel may slacken her speed or take all way off by stopping or reversing her means of propulsion.
The above would happen in waters where ships are going in and out of the harbour limits. Since the ship may not have set a course also that the speed may not have to sufficient, a vessel may head in some different way, especially when transferring pilot etc, under these circumstances it is better to either stop and watch the situation as it develops or even if required to stop the vessel in her tracks - no movement, and then to assess the situation and then move cautiously.
(f)
(i) A vessel which, by any of these rules, is required not to impede the passage or safe passage of another vessel shall when required by the circumstances of the case, take early action to allow sufficient sea room for the safe passage of the other vessel.
(ii) A vessel required not to impede the passage or safe passage of another vessel is not relieved of this obligation if approaching the other vessel so as to involve risk of collision and shall, when taking action, have full regard to the action which may be required by the rules of this part.
(iii) A vessel the passage of which is not to be impeded remains fully obliged to comply with the rules of this part when the two vessels are approaching one another so as to involve risk of collision.
All of the above relate to vessels which have been required to keep out of the way of other vessels and not to hinder the passage of another vessel. These vessels should therefore take early action to keep clear, but if they fail then too they are obliged to follow the Rules to avoid a close quarter situation.
For the stand on vessel, it still has to follow the Rules irrespective of whether the other vessel takes action or not. Risk of collision at any costs has to be avoided.
Rule 9:Narrow Channels
Two terms are used throughout the Rule that are not defined. They are “narrow channel” (namesake of the Rule) and “(narrow) fairway.” We must assume that the drafters of the Rules either believed their meanings to be obvious or else were not able to formulate suitable concise definitions.
Rule 9 applies only on waters described by the two terms. What is “narrow” depends on the type of vessel and the circumstances. A “channel” is a natural or dredged lane restricted on either side by shallow water; it is often marked by buoys. A “fairway” is generally in open water, and the water on either side is not much shallower than within the fairway. Fairways are used to route vessels away from natural hazards, oil platforms, mines, or smaller vessels. Fairways should be differentiated from the lanes in traffic separation schemes; vessels in the latter should follow Rule 10 rather than Rule 9.
a. A vessel proceeding along the course of a narrow channel or fairway shall keep as near to the outer limit of the channel or fairway which lies on her starboard side as is safe and practicable.
No ambiguity in this part of the Rule, it is a general advice. As safe and practicable leaves it to the watch keeping officer to take the ultimate decision to deviate from this Rule. If due to the draft or width of the ship as well as the contour of the bottom of the channel it is not safe or is not practicable to comply with this Rule then the watch keeper has his common sense to guide him, keeping always safety in mind.
b. A vessel of less than 20meters in length or a sailing vessel shall not impede the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate only within a narrow channel or fairway.
This again is a guideline for small vessels as well as for sailing crafts to keep away from ships that can safely navigate only within the narrow channel or fairway, since the small vessels and the sailing craft can always use the shallower part of the channel they should not impede the passage of a large ship.
c. A vessel engaged in fishing shall not impede the passage of any other vessel navigating within a narrow channel or fairway.
Also a guideline, again please note it is not a fishing vessel but a fishing vessel engaged in the actual task of fishing, so no fishing in the narrow channel or fairway.
d. A vessel shall not cross a narrow channel or fairway if such crossing impedes the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate only within such channel or fairway. - The latter vessel may use the sound signals prescribed in rule 34 (d) if in doubt as to the intention of the crossing vessel.
Crossing vessels are warned not to cross the channel or fairway if this crossing should come in the way of a vessel proceeding along the channel who cannot deviate due to the depth or width restriction of the channel.
Sound signals have been mentioned which may be used if in any doubt about the intention of either vessel.
It does say that a vessel will not cross a channel or fairway - she can do so as long as she does not impede the passage of a ship following the channel.
e.
(i) In a narrow channel or fairway when overtaking can take place only if the vessel to be overtaken has to take action to permit safe passage, the vessel intending to overtake shall indicate signal prescribed in rule 34 c (i). The vessel to be overtaken shall, if in agreement, sound the appropriate signal prescribed in rule 34 c (ii) and take steps to permit safe passing. If in doubt she may sound the signals prescribed in rule 34 d.
In a narrow channel or fairway overtaking may prove to be difficult, but it may be necessary for some reason, ship behind gets a priority berthing etc. In this case, if the vessel behind wants to overtake then she has to sound the signal - Two prolonged blasts followed by one short blast to mean “I intend to overtake you on your starboard side”;
Two prolonged blasts followed by two short blasts to mean “I intend to overtake you on your port side”.
This is a request signal and has to be answered by the ship ahead either in the affirmative by sounding -One prolonged, one short, one prolonged and one short blast, and the ship ahead should go to one side of the channel and allow sea room for the other ship to overtake.
Only once the confirmation has been received can the ship behind take action. If the answer was positive and overtaking has been permitted then she should first watch the other ship and when the passage has been widened for her she should overtake.
If the ship ahead is in any doubt about the sound signal that she heard or at a later stage while overtaking is in progress and she feels that a close quarter situation may develop then she may sound the signal:- at least five short and rapid blasts on the whistle.
(ii) This rule does not relieve the overtaking vessel of her obligation under rule 13.
Okay so the ship ahead has agreed to be overtaken, but the responsibility and obligation as per Rule 13 still remains on the ship behind, she cannot find fault with the ship ahead if some mishap occurs. This is the reason that she has to make sure that after answering in the positive the ship ahead has made adequate sea room available for her to overtake. Otherwise, even if the sound signal is positive she should not overtake, if in doubt she may sound the signal again.
f. The vessel nearing a bend or an area of a narrow channel or fairway where other vessels may be obscured by an intervening obstruction shall navigate with particular alertness and caution and shall sound the appropriate signal prescribed in rule 34 e.
Almost like a car sounds a car horn when nearing a crossing, it alerts traffic on the blind side of the bend that a ship is about to cross. This is especially relevant in channels and rivers and fairways where up and down traffic are numerous.
g. Any vessel shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid anchoring in a narrow channel.
A general advice, circumstances of the case admit means as far as possible she should not anchor, but if due to some extraordinary circumstances she has to anchor then she should have to warn all vessels and take special care.
Rule 10:Traffic separation schemes
Meaning: If a vessel is not going to use the TSS, then they should be as far away as possible from the TSS, this so that they do not cause confusion for the ships which are heading to or leaving the TSS.
i. A vessel engagedinfishing shall not impede the passage of any vessel following a traffic lane.
Meaning: Fishing vessels while fishing in a TS Zone should not come into the TSS and thus obstruct the safe passage of another ship sailing along the TSS because this would defeat the purpose of the TSS if the ships have to weave through the fishing vessels and their nets.
j. A vessel of less than 20metres in length or a sailing vessel shall not impede the safe passage of a power-driven vessel following a traffic lane.
Meaning: These small vessels should not come and disturb the passage of a ship following a TSS, they can sail along the TS Zone to which they are permitted.
k. A vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre when engaged in an operation for the maintenance of safety of navigation in a traffic separation scheme is exempted from complying with this rule to the extent necessary to carry out the operation.
Meaning: Let us say that a ship which is repairing a buoy or renewing it within a TSS. Then obviously the vessel is restricted in her ability to manoeuvre, in this case, the work has to be done for the safety of the ships in the TSS, so this vessel would not have to follow the rules for vessels in the TSS. For other ships, the signals as hoisted by the working vessel should be carefully noted and the ship should pass clear of the restricted vessel, the restricted vessel may not comply with the rules of TSS.
l. A vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre when engaged in an operation for the laying, servicing or picking up of a submarine cable, within a traffic separation scheme, is exempted from complying with this rule to the extent necessary to carry out the operation.
Meaning: Like the above explanation, these vessels are also exempt. Thus the alertness on the part of other vessels is to be very sharp. However, once the work is finished the restricted ship no longer enjoys the exemption from complying with this part of the rule.
