Part I

INTRODUCTION

THE VARIOUS RULES AND REGULATIONS

and

THE AREAS IN WHICH THEY APPLY

INTERNATIONAL RULES

The International Rules apply on the high seas, and on most other waters throughout the world outside the inland waters of the United States and its territories. For many entrances to harbors, bays, and estuaries, specific lines of demarcation between the high seas and inland waters have been laid down, as shown in the illustrations on pages 2, 3, and 4. The general rule covering such lines, where not so prescribed, is as follows: At all buoyed entrances from seaward to bays, sounds, rivers, or other estuaries for which specific lines of demarcation have not been prescribed, the International Rules apply outside of a line approximately parallel with the general trend of the shore, drawn through the outermost buoy or other aid to navigation of any system of aids.

INLAND RULES AND PILOT RULES

The Inland Rules and Pilot Rules apply on all waters of the United States and territories inside the lines separating them from the high seas with the following exceptions:

The Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters, and the St. Lawrence River as far east as Montreal.

The Red River of the North.

The rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries.

GREAT LAKES RULES AND PILOT RULES FOR THE GREAT LAKES The Great Lakes Rules and the Pilot Rules for the Great Lakes apply on the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters and on the St. Lawrence River as far east as Montreal.

WESTERN RIVERS RULES AND PILOT RULES FOR
WESTERN RIVERS

The Western Rivers Rules and Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply on the Red River of the North and rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries.

THE MOTORBOAT ACT OF 1940

The rules in this act apply to motorboats, as defined in the act, on all the navigable inland waters of the United States, including Great Lakes and rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

The requirements for lights and sound signal devices apply to all vessels of the classes indicated when operating in these waters. They do not apply on the high seas, where International Rules govern.

Motorboats, like other vessels, observe the rules of the road for the area in which they are at the time operating.

REFERENCES

In the following pages, wherever statutory or pilot rules are cited, reference is made to the appropriate publication, in the case of the former by article number and/or rule, and in the case of the latter, by section number.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COLLISION PREVENTION

It is assumed that you are reading this booklet because you are a professional or amateur mariner and that sooner or later, perhaps many times, you will find yourself in a position to cause or to prevent a marine collision. Collisions occur at frequent but unpredictable intervals, and are never scheduled. They occur less often in fog than in clear weather, with the vessels visible to each other long before they are dangerously close together. With the exception of perhaps one case in a hundred, which is due to Act of God, these collisions occur because someone who should know better disobeys the Rules of the Road, rules which were designed by highly experienced professionals to prevent the very thing that happens, rules that have stood the test of time all over the maritime world.

The next time your vessel approaches another, one of three things will probably result. (1) You will both obey the rules applicable to the given situation, and will accordingly clear each other in a routine manner, with proper signals, at a safe distance. Or (2) one of you will try to improve on the established rules with a better system of your own, and there will be a near collision, though you will escape, perhaps, by the skin of your teeth. Or (3) your original technique, contrary to the rules, will end up in actual collision. You may be interested to learn that in a majority of collision cases investigated by the Coast Guard not merely one, but both, vessels are guilty of violations. The 99 percent correlation between disobedience of the Rules of the Road and collision leads to the inescapable conclusion that the rules, if obeyed by both vessels, are practically collision proof.