I think I might be taking my life in my hands but....

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Davydine

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..... I am going to ask a col-regs question!

A yacht is motoring across a shipping lane (on the correct heading) and a cargo ship, traveling along the lane, is coming towards the yacht on the starboard side. It is clear that if neither vessel takes action there will be a collision. What is the best course of action?

In open water (ie not shipping lane) then the yacht should give way and pass behind the cargo ship. Is this the best course of action when in a shipping lane?

Would it be better to either:
a) slow down and let the vessel pass ahead
b) Turn to port and head in the correct direction for the lane until the vessel has passed.

I appreciate that any colregs question is likely to provoke some lively debate but would welcome your thoughts /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

David
 
As you seem to suggest, he is both stand on, and in a shipping lane so you are duty bound to keep clear, then, the easiest action is to slow down and let the vessel pass ahead, there may however, be benefit in turning to port if that gives you navigational advantage, eg improves your course relative to the wind towards your destination....

Either way, the secret is 'be early and obvious' in your decision...
 
Thanks...Yes I firmly believe in making course changes obvious! I would worry that a few degrees to pass behind might not be detected by the stand on vessel

I guess my concern is that any change of course and / or speed takes you away from the basic principle of heading 90 degrees to the direction of the lane and get across as quick as you can... Hence my question.
 
Turning to port is a no no.

You can slow down as you propose or turn to starboard, or both. But make it obvious.
 
Good question. The only shipping lane we've had experience of is the North Channel, which has very light traffic. On those occasions when it has been necessary we've either stopped or slowed down, or turned to starboard (and pointed in the "wrong" direction, but it was night time and a starboard turn would have clearly shown the forward nav lights rather than a single stern light).

Also, I wonder whether a turn to port can cause confusion, assuming that they've even seen you.
 
A broad alteration of course to starboard and pass around his stern. Slowing down will not readily indicate to anyone watching what the intentions of the give way vessel are.
 
I would suggest that whilst slowing down will solve the current problem, it is less obvious to the OOW on the bridge of the merchantman that it has happened, therefore by making a clear change of course as well, the OOW is less likely to take any action of his/her own and thus potentially create a new problem.
 
An obvious turn to starboard, ideally to show a different aspect (so approaching vessel sees your port side) is IMHO a better course of action as the "danger time" is minimized. It is then obvious to the other vessel that you intend to pass astern. If you turn to port, he will have to monitor you for longer to ensure a risk of collision does not recur. It matters not that you may, for a short time, be effectively heading aginst the flow of traffic.

Of course, the above assumes that the alternation does not place you on a collision course with other vessels.

Also note the the heading at 90 degrees rule is only applicable in Traffic Separation Schemes. Only a few areas of the E-W and W-E traffic flow in the Channel are actually TSS.
 
When you say "shipping lane" what exactly do you have in mind.

Are we talking a traffic separation scheme, or buoyed channel into a port or harbour, or is it something else?

I don't think the term "shipping lane" appears in colregs.

But I may be wrong.
 
Hi Skysail, why is port a no no?

I appreciate that it may cause confusion but an early 90 degrees to port is obvious and you are then traveling in the right direction for the lane. As you are the give way vessel the stand on vessel is unlikely to have made any course change at this early stage...

Slowing down may be hard for stand on vessel to detect and big course change to stbd. and you heading the wrong way up a shipping lane.

I am not saying that turning to port is the best thing to do, I am just not sure what is! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
As the yacht is motoring (if its motor sailing it has its cone up) the Cargo vessel is the stand on vessel.

As a collision is possible if both hold their courses I would make an early and obvious change of course and steer for the cargo ships stern.

Any watchkeeper would then note your intention of passing astern. As the ship crossed I would slowly correct my course back to crossing the shipping lane at right angles by effectively continuously adjusting your course to aim at the stern as the cargo ship as it passed across in front of you and until you are back to original course (crossing the lane at 90deg) and will finally cross astern by about a minimum of 300m.

I think slowing down and not altering course is also OK but I would assume their MARPA has already indicated a close situation and I am not sure how quickly it would adjust for your different speed.

Like most things there is an element of judgement and at what point do you make your adjustment. I find that for ages if lining a boat up along the guard rails and stanchions it appears you are on a collision course but once they are probably about 2-3 miles? away most quickly pass across your bows as if they have magically speeded up -they havn't its just the angle between you changes at a much faster rate as the boat gets nearer and crosses in front.

I aim in good visibility not to be within 2000m of the bow, 500m of any side and 300m of the stern of any ships.

Interested in how others deal with this situation.
 
Put me down as another that would turn to starboard and go round the stern. If nothing else it keeps the ship in plain view all the time, rather than having to keep looking over the shoulder. It also means you're more likely to see the next ship following on behind......

Have a look HERE for a desription
 
being able to count the rivets on a ship is too close! :-))

Seriously though "I aim in good visibility not to be within 2000m of the bow, 500m of any side and 300m of the stern of any ships" sounds like a sensible rule of thumb to me. Been much closer when racing, which on reflection was a bit dumb.
 
I was having the very same conversation about col regs on Wednesday (just before the yachtmaster theory col regs paper). This is one of the areas of ambiguity in the col regs which on paper doesn't seem to have a straightforward answer but in practice does. The rules state that " A vessel of less than 20 metres in length or a sailing vessel shall not impede the safe passage of a power driven vessel following a traffic lane" (Rule 10 j). However, if you are a power vessel or a yacht motoring across a TSS (which is very common), you are subject to rule 15 which applies at all times i.e. if the vessel in the TSS has you in its forward starboard quadrant then in theory it is the give way vessel and you are stand on. In practice however, you would avoid getting anywhere near a bigger vessel in a TSS and would vary speed accordingly to avoid getting anywhere near a close quaters situation.
 
I'm trying very hard to get my head round the col regs but it seems the wording doesn't actually help . I would have thought that a 90 degree turn to port would mean the heavy was alongside for a lot longer than if a 90 degree turn to stbd , then turn towards the stern , yes I know you'd be going against the flow but it would only be a short time and would put you less off course than the alternative . Obviously visibility has to be taken into account so you'd have to be sure there was no other traffic close by
 
Yee Gods

The number of people who would make an alteration of course to port in a crossing situation is scary. This is straight forward, and slowing down will not be obvious to the watch keeper unless you have an AIS tranceiver on board. Make your intention clear and pass astern, then resume your crossing with your heading at 90 degrees to the TSS.

BTW if you do install an AIS tranciever on board you better be damn sure of your Colregs, as any d*** head moves will be visible to all including VTS and recorded for prosperity at the MAIB hearing after you have caused a collision.

p.s Always remember Rule 2 - Good Seamanship shall prevail.....

In horror

JackIron
 
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