Therefore, in light of the Club’s experience with collisions, we are producing a new set of COLREGs posters, reiterating the principal parts of some of the rules in Part B of the COLREGs, Section II – Conduct of vessels in sight of one another. The posters will illustrate scenarios in these rules and are aimed at navigational watchkeepers, setting out with simple illustrations the required actions to be taken in order to comply with each COLREGs rule. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) produced the COLREGs (also known as Rules of the Road or RoR) as a set of traffic regulations which have been internationally agreed. These apply to all vessels on the high seas and in all connected waters which are navigable by seagoing vessels. The rules set out the foundations for navigation light colours, the configuration and location of daylight signals, and sound signals for manoeuvering and restricted visibility. They also set out the types of collision avoiding actions for vessels approaching one another, as well as the assignment of responsibilities for taking appropriate actions. All navigating officers, including the Master, will have undergone training and certification in relation to knowledge of the rules before taking on their independent navigational THE CLUB’S LOSS PREVENTION TEAM HAS BEEN LOOKING INTO THE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF PAST COLLISION CASES. THE NUMBER OF COLLISION CASES IS DECREASING. THIS IS LARGELY DUE TO THE ADVENT OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY, SUCH AS AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS (AIS), THE BRIDGE NAVIGATIONAL WATCH AND ALARM SYSTEM (BNWAS) AND THE ELECTRONIC CHART DISPLAY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (ECDIS). UNFORTUNATELY, COLLISIONS DO STILL OCCUR. Capt. Charles Chong Loss Prevention Officer, Singapore cchong@tindallriley.com COLLISION REGULATIONS (COLREGs) – POSTERS ANOTHER LOOK AT THE RULES OF THE ROAD THE SINGLE MOST SIGNIFICANT KEY CONTRIBUTORY FACTOR IN THESE ACCIDENTS HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE VIOLATION BY THE OFFICER OF THE WATCH (OOW) OF ONE OR MORE RULES IN THE CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA (COLREGS). watch and/or command of the vessel. The officers will have had months, if not years, of training and will have had seagoing experience in accordance with the International Convention on Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW), before they are certified competent and awarded their Certificate of Competency (CoC) to be able to navigate a vessel. However, despite all the training and knowledge of the COLREGs, there are often situations when they are not correctly applied or are misinterpreted by the OOW which can lead to a close quarters situation developing, and can even result in a collision. In some cases, the OOW may encounter situations which they are unsure of and may misread the intentions of other vessels, even when the vessels are in sight of one another. Normally, standard practice would be to determine the risks of collision by monitoring the relative bearing of the other vessel, using an azimuth mirror and/or the radar/Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA). The OOW will apply professional judgement after appraising the situation and will then take avoiding actions as dictated by the COLREGs. A good example is the question of ‘give-way’ and ‘stand-on’ vessels within the context of the COLREGs. Situations can occasionally arise and develop in such a way that the giveway vessel is not taking proper actions to keep out of the way as set out in the CO