|
Prevention of Collision At Sea – Speed, Speed, Speed – What’s Safe?
Who hasn’t been out on our bays and creeks and experienced another boat overtaking you at such a speed that you grumbled, “What is that moron thinking..?!?” Without any ambiguity, Rule 6 – Safe Speed – is all about determining what is a safe speed, condition by condition…
What Does Rule 6 Say is a “Safe Speed”
“Every vessel shall (must!) at all time 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.” As mentioned in the October 3rd article on Sound Signals (Rule 35), Admiralty and maritime boards have consistently applied the rule that a safe stopping distance is operating at a speed that allows you to do so in half the distance that you can see ahead. So, perhaps that guy that blew by you at 40 knots when visibility is to the horizon is traveling at a safe speed then…? Unlikely… Read on.
Rule 6 goes on to define factors “that shall (must!) be among those taken into account”…
By ALL vessels…
6(a)(i) the state of visibility (OK, to the horizon covers him here…)
(ii) traffic density (well, maybe you were the only other boat in sight…)
(iii) maneuverability (hmm, can turn on a dime… maybe still OK…)
(iv) at night, background (broad daylight… still OK…)
lighting
(v) sea and weather (beautiful day… still OK… hmm…!)
(vi) draft versus water BINGO! No way high speeds can be
justified when any small deviation from
the channel will ground you at any moment.
And we all know that even channels can silt over after a storm or heavy sea state…
Even though the courts have applied the above-mentioned rule of thumb of “safe speed equals safe stopping in half the range of visibility”, this fails when the hazard is below the surface. Visibility on the night of April 14, 1912 was excellent when Sixth Officer James Paul Moody shouted “Iceberg Ahead…!”
With or without alcohol present, breaking Rule 6 can have life-time consequences. After losing 46 souls when the T/N Andrea Doria collided in the fog with the M/V Stockholm on July 25, 1956, the Andrea Doria’s captain was heard to mutter, “When I was a boy, and all my life, I loved the sea; now I hate it…”
As you can tell, we’re building up a solid body of work on the Rules which govern all of us when we are “upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels.” Here is a listing of where we are as of today. If you would like a reprint (by email only), you can email SSPRESS2000@aol.com (attention the Editor) or to me at VPica@AtlanticMaritimeAcademy.com.
Rule 2 Responsibility SSP, September 19, 2007
Rule 5 Proper Lookout SSP, July 18, 2007
Rule 7 Use All Means Available SSP, July 25, 2007
Rule 8 Actions to Avoid Collision SSP, July 25, 2007
Rule 9 Actions in a Narrow Channel SSP, July 25, 2007
Rule 13 Overtaking, Meeting SSP, May 30, 2007
Rule 14 Head-On, Meeting SSP, June 6, 2007
Rule 15 Crossing, Meeting SSP, July 11, 2007
Rule 18 Priority of Vessels SSP, August 8, 2007
Rule 19 Restricted Visibility SSP, September 26, 2007
Rule 35 Sound Signals, under Rule 19 SSP, October, 3, 2007
|