Rule 17 - Action By Stand-on vessel | Rules of the road | COLREGS | Merchant navy knowledge

RULE 17
Action by stand-on vessel
(a) (i) Where one of two vessels is to keep out of the way the other shall keep her
course and speed.
(ii) The latter vessel may however take action to avoid collision by her
manœuvre alone, as soon as it becomes apparent to her that the vessel
required to keep out of the way is not taking appropriate action in
compliance with these Rules.
(b) When, from any cause, the vessel required to keep her course and speed finds
herself so close that collision cannot be avoided by the action of the give-way
vessel alone, she shall take such action as will best aid to avoid collision.
(c) A power-driven vessel which takes action in a crossing situation in accordance with sub-paragraph (a)(ii) of this Rule to avoid collision with another
power-driven vessel shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, not alter
course to port for a vessel on her own port side.
(d) This Rule does not relieve the give-way vessel of her obligation to keep out of
the way.
COMMENT:
One of two vessels
A vessel is only required to maintain her course and speed in a two vessel situation. In
the unlikely event of one vessel finding herself on a collision course with two other
vessels at the same time, being in one case the give-way vessel and in the other case
the stand-on vessel, she could not be expected to keep out of the way of one vessel and
maintain her course and speed for the other.
78 A Guide to the Collision Avoidance Rules
One vessel is to keep out of the way
Rules 12, 13, 15 and 18 require one of two vessels to keep out of the way. The ‘giveway vessel’ is required to take early and substantial action to keep well clear by
Rule 16. Rule 17 lays down provisions for the other vessel, referred to as the ‘stand-on
vessel’.
Rule 17 does not apply if the two vessels concerned are not in visual sight of each
other, or if there is no risk of collision. This means that, for instance, a power-driven
vessel which detects another vessel approaching from the port bow, or from more than
22.5 abaft the beam, and determines by radar that the bearing is not changing, is not
required to keep her course and speed if the vessel cannot be sighted visually. There is
also no obligation to keep course and speed for a vessel sighted at long range, before risk
of collision begins to apply, even though the bearing may not be appreciably changing.
A United Kingdom proposal to introduce a ‘Long Range Rule’, which was
intended to make it clear that disengagement was permitted at long range, was not
accepted by the 1972 Conference. The Chairman stated that he had always assumed
that a vessel had the right to take action early in an encounter to disengage from what
might become a dangerous situation and this view was shared by other delegates.
Court decisions have also been made to this effect. The Rules in Section II generally
require one of two vessels to keep out of the way when risk of collision exists and risk
of collision has not been considered to apply at long ranges (see pages 26-27).
Keep course and speed
A vessel which is required to keep her course and speed does not necessarily have to
remain on the same compass course and maintain the same engine revolutions.
In the Windsor-Roanoke, 1908, both vessels were bearing down on the Rotterdam
pilot boat, on crossing courses, when the Roanoke, while signalling for a pilot,
stopped her engines to take the pilot on board. Although the Roanoke was the standon vessel, she was held to be justified in her manœuvre, as the other vessel should
have known what she was doing

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