-
Introduction
The 1972
Convention was
designed to
update
and r
eplace the
Collision
Regulations
of 1960 whic
h were
adopted
at the same time as
the 1960 SOLAS Convention.
One of the most important
innovations
（改革，革新）
in the 1972 COLREGs was the
r
ec
ognition g
iven
to tr
affic
separation
sc
hemes -
Rule
10
gives guidance in
deter
m
ining
safe
speed, the risk of c
ollision
and the c
onduct
of
vessels
oper
ating in or near
tr
affic
separ
ation sc
hemes.
The first suc
h
tr
affic separ
ation scheme
was established in the Dover Strait in 1967. It
was oper
ated on a
voluntary
basis at fir
st but in 1971 the IMO
Assembly adopted a r
esolution stating
that that observanc
e of all
traffic separ
ation schemes
be made mandatory - and the COLREGs make this
obligation clear.
Amendment
procedure
Under the
eptance
pr
oc
edur
e inc
orpor
ated in the
Convention,
an
amendment
must
fir
st
be
adopted
by
two-
thir
ds of those present and voting in
the Maritime Safety Committee. It is then
communicated to
Contracting Parties and
consider
ed by the
IMO
Assembly. If adopted by two-thirds of the States
pr
esent and
voting in the
Assembly, it automatic
ally enters into
force on a specified date unless mor
e
than one thir
d of the
Contracting Parties notify the
Or
ganization of their
obj
addition, a
Confer
ence for
the
pur
pose of
revising the
Convention or its r
egulations
or
both may be convened by IMO at the
r
equest of not less than
one-thir
d of Contracting
Parties.
Technical
provisions
The COLREGs
include 38 rules divided into five sections: Part
A - Gener
al; Part B - Steering and
Sailing; Part C
- Lights and Shapes;
Part D - Sound and Light signals; and Part
E
- Exemptions. Ther
e are
also four
Annexes
containing
technic
al requir
ements
c
onc
er
ning lights
and shapes and their
positioning; sound
signal
ling
applianc
es; additional
signals for fishing vessels when
oper
ating in close
proxim
ity, and inter
national
distr
ess
signals.
Part
A
- General (Rules 1-3)
Rule
1
states
that the r
ules
apply to
all vessels
upon the high
seas
and
all
water
s c
onnected to the high
seas
and
navigable by
seagoing vessels.
Rule
2
covers the r
esponsibility
of the master
, owner
and
crew to c
omply with the rules.
Rule
3
includes definitions.
Part B- Steering and
Sailing (Rules 4-19)
Section
1 - Conduct of vessels in any condition of
visibility (Rules 4-10)
Rule 4
says the section
applies in any c
ondition of visibility.
Rule 5
requir
es that
look
-out by sight and hearing as well
as
by all available means
appr
opriate in the prevailing
circumstances and c
onditions so as to
make a full appr
aisal
of the
situation and of the risk of collision.
Rule 6
deals
with safe speed. It r
equir
es
that:
oc
eed at a safe
speed...
Rule describes the factors
which should be taken into account in
deter
mining safe speed.
Sever
al of these
r
efer
specific
ally to vessels
equipped with r
importanc
e
of using
str
essed in
Rule 7 covering risk of collision,
which warns that
anty
infor
mation, especially
scanty radar infor
mation
Rule 8
covers action to be
taken to avoid c
ollision.
In
Rule
9
a vessel
pr
oc
eeding
along the c
ourse
of
a
narrow
channel
or fairway is obliged to
keep
near to the
outer lim
it of the
c
hannel or
fairway which
lies on her
starboar
d side
as is safe and pr
actic
able.<
/p>
obliges
a vessel
of less than
20
metr
es in length
or
a sailing vessel
not to impede the
passage of
a vessel
can
safely navigate only within a narr
ow
channel or
fairway.
The Rule also for
bids ships
to cr
oss a narrow channel or fairway
h cr
ossing impedes the
passage of a
vessel whic
h
c
an safely navigate only within such
channel or fairway.
classified
by
an
amendment
to
Rule
8
in
1987. A new
par
agr
a
ph
(f) was
added,
str
essing that
a
vessel which was
requir
ed
not to impede the passage of another vessel should
take early action to allow sufficient sea
r
oom for
the safe passage of
the other vessel. Suc
h vessel was
obliged to fulfil this obligation also
when taking avoiding
action
in accor
danc
e with the
steering and sailing r
ules when risk of
c
ollision exists.
Rule 10
of the Collision
Regulations deals with the behaviour of vessels in
or near tr
affic separation schemes
adopted by the Organization. By
r
egulation 8 of Chapter V (Safety of
Navigation) of SOLAS, IMO is
r
ec
ognized
as
being the only organization c
ompetent
to deal with inter
national measures
c
oncer
ning the
r
outeing of ships.
The effectiveness of tr
affic
separ
ation schemes c
an be
judged from a s
tudy made by the
International
Association of Institutes
of N
avigation (IAIN) in 1981. This
showed that between 1956 and 1960 there
wer
e 60
collisions in the
Str
ait of Dover
; twenty
years
later,
following the
intr
oduction
of
tr
affic
separation
sc
hemes, this
total was cut to only 16.
In other ar
eas
wher
e suc
h schemes did not
exist the number of collisions r
ose
sharply. N
ew traffic
separ
ation
schemes
ar
e
intr
oduc
ed
r
egularly
and
existing
ones
are
amended when
nec
essary to respond to
c
hanged tr
affic
conditions. To enable this to be done
as quic
kly as possible the MSC has been
authorized to adopt and amend
traffic
separ
ation schemes on behalf of the
Organization.
Rule 10
states that ships crossing
tr
affic
lanes ar
e
requir
ed to do so
actic
able a
t
right angles to
the gener
al
dir
ection of
tr
affic
flow.
educ
es
c
onfusion to other ships as to the
crossing vessel's intentions
and
c
our
se and at the same time
enables that vessel to cross the lane as
quic
kly as possible.
Fishing vessels
affic
lane
e not banned
fr
om
fishing.
This is in line with Rule 9 which states that
any other vessel navigating within a
narrow channel or fairway.
e amended.
Two
new paragr
aphs were
added to Rule 10 to exempt vessels which
ar
e restricted in their ability to
manoeuvr
e
ation
for the safety of navigation in a
tr
affic separ
ation
scheme
cable laying.
In 1987 the r
egulations
wer
e
again
amended.
It was stressed
that
Rule 10
applies to
tr
affic
separ
ation
sc
hemes
adopted by the
Or
ganization
(IMO)
and
does
not r
elieve
any
vessel
of her
obligation
under
any
other rule.
It was
also to clarify that
if a vessel is obliged to cross tr
affic
lanes it should do so as nearly as
pr
actic
able at right
angles to the gener
al
direction of the tr
affic flow. In 1989
Regulation 10 was further amended to clarify the
vessels which may use the
affic zone.
Section II - Conduct of vessels in
sight of one another (Rules 11-18)
Rule 11
says the
section applies to vessels in sight of one
another.
Rule 12
states action to be taken when two sailing vessels
ar
e approac
hing one
another
.
Rule 13
cover
s
overtaking - the overtaking vessel should keep out
of the way of the vessel being overtaken.
Rule 14
deals with head-on
situations. Crossing situations ar
e
c
over
ed by
Rule
15
and action to be taken by
the give-way vessel is laid down in
Rule 16
.
Rule
17
deals
with the
action
of the
stand-on vessel, including the
provision that the
stand-on
vessel
may
action
to
avoid c
ollision
by
her
manoeuvr
e
alone
as soon
as it
bec
omes
appar
ent to
her
that the vessel r
equir
ed
to keep out of the way is not taking
appr
opriate action.
Rule 18
deals with
r
esponsibilities be
tween
vessels and includes requir
ements
for
vessels whic
h shall keep
out
of the way of other
s.
Section III - conduct of
vessels in restricted visibility (Rule
19)
Rule
19
states every vessel should
pr
oceed at a safe speed adapted to
pr
evailing
circumstan
c
es and
r
estricted
visibility. A
vessel detecting by radar another vessel should
deter
m
ine if
ther
e is risk of collision and if so
take
avoiding action. A vessel hearing
fog signal of another vessel should
r
educ
e speed to a minimum.
Part C Lights and Shapes
(Rules 20-31)
Rule 20
states rules
c
onc
er
ning lights
apply fr
om
sunset to 21
gives definitions.
Rule
22
covers
visibility
of lights -
indicating that lights
should
be visible
at
m
inimum ranges (in
nautic
al
m
iles)
deter
m
ined
acc
ording to the type of vessel.
Rule 23
covers
lights to be carried by power
-driven
vessels underway.
Rule
24
covers lights for
vessels
towing and pushing.