Coastguard Oops

[Charlie99]

Anyways, the CG might be "at fault" according to the rules, but those speedboaters are clearly the idiots. The CG made a silly error, the speedboaters are practically looking to kill themselves. No radio, no life jackets, not paying attention, and moving at a high rate of speed--they also did not cut their throttle. <emphasis added>

It would have been improper for the other boat to cut their throttle. The proper action for the CG would have been to either slow, or to come starboard to go astern of the other boat. The other boat slowing down would have made the proper actions of the CG less effective. In other words, you can run into the situation where the CG properly slows or turns to the right a bit, but then the other boat slows down and they are back on collision course.

The rules of the road are written such that in most cases, the stand on vessel is required to predictably continue on course and speed while the other vessel maneuvers around it. The guys on the other boat were oblivious and didn't change course, but that is indeed exactly what they should have done even if they were aware of the Coast Guard boat, up until the boats had gotten to within a dangerous range.

Many collisions have been caused by

..... a series of small, minor course or speed changes by both vessels
..... turns to port
..... the stand-on vessel unexpectedly maneuvering, thereby negating the collision avoidance maneuver of the give-way vessel.

The stand-on vessel should not maneuver until it is clear that the other vessel is not going to maneuver as needed. In most cases, the proper action by the stand-on vessel will be a starboard turn.


I've driven 600' ships for a couple thousand hours and have found that following the colregs helps to make life less exciting. While the higher maneuverability of small boats means that you can get a lot closer before having to change course, but the same concepts apply. The "Regulations for Avoiding Collisions at Sea" are just that -- a set of rules that add a level of predictability as to who is going to do what to avoid collisions.

Charlie Allen

A collision or grounding can ruin your whole day.

 

[OceanObsessed]

The video is actually a good example of the Coast Guards definition of a collision course, which is "constant bearing and decreasing range". You can tell they are on a collision course within the first few seconds of the video (before they are dangerously close) because the the stand on vessel maintains a fairly constant bearing when watched from the CG vessel.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

It would have been improper for the other boat to cut their throttle.

I agree with you, somewhat, and disagree with you, somewhat. If both boats had slowed then yes, there is still a chance that they would have collided. However, if both boats had stopped, there is almost 0 chance they would have collided. So I do agree that it is not ideal for both to slow, but I do think it could have lowered the chance of collision.

Also, how big is the CG boat? could it have turned at that speed? Seems like there would be a point in time past which it would have been difficult for the CG boat to turn and avoid the collision, and the captain made the wrong decision until after that point, then he couldn't do much about it.

And if the captain had swung around to port and turned in a circle, woudln't that have avoided the collision?

If the speedboaters had been paying attention and/or had a VHF radio, the accident would have probably been avoided. If the CG guy had more carefully followed regulations, the accident probably would have been avoided. Both boaters showed a lack of common sense.

 

[Charlie99]

Also, how big is the CG boat? could it have turned at that speed? Seems like there would be a point in time past which it would have been difficult for the CG boat to turn and avoid the collision, and the captain made the wrong decision until after that point, then he couldn't do much about it.

And if the captain had swung around to port and turned in a circle, woudln't that have avoided the collision?

It appears that the CG boat is one of their small boats, not much bigger than the one they ran over. Even at full speed, those boats can make a pretty tight turn. Those smaller CG boats are commonly run by 19 year old kids.

Once the give-way vessel (the CG boat in this case) has gotten to the point where he should have already maneuvered and hasn't done so, then the stand-on boat is free to maneuver as necessary. As with most cases, a right turn would have opened up the spacing between boats.

Coming port/left is generally NOT the better move, because of the way the regulations set up the give-way and stand-on vessels. The burdened vessel in this crossing case, the CG boat, would be aiming astern of the other boat if they turned right, but would tend to cross in front of the privileged vessel if they turned port. Of course, doing a 360 would work in either direction if you do the loop early enough, but doing the clockwise loop minimizes confusion because it would never look like you were trying to beat the other boat and cut ahead of him. Collisions are often started by moves like that --- the CG starts a turn to the left, looking like he's trying to cut ahead of the other boat. Then other boat then turns left, so that the CG boat has a bit more room to pass in front. This then brings that boat right into the middle of where the CG boat is doing his loop.

Most accidents are a series of dumb moves. In the YouTube video it's the CG violating the rules of the road, and the other boat not keeping a good lookout.

When vessels meet head on or nearly so, the preferred passage is port-to-port, just like on US highways. A turn to the right opens up the passage, a turn to the left tends to increase likelyhood of collision. The basic rule is that, if you are close enough in a head to head meeting that you feel a need to maneuver, then you should turn right. Yet another case where starboard turn is good, port is the worse choice.

One case where turning left or right is a tossup is when overtaking another boat. In that case there isn't a strong preference for either side for the overtaking. The privileged/stand-on vessel, the one being overtaken, should maintain course and speed so you don't get into a dance or deadly embrace with the overtaking vessel where you fake each other out and end up colliding after several course changes back and forth.

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Some of my scariest moments in life have come from either me or others violating the rules of the road. For example, I use to routinely apply the unwritten "Rule of Gross Tons": he who has the gross tons gets to take the right of way whether or not it's really his. At the conn of an 11,000 ton ship, that worked well with both recreational boaters and commercial fishing boats, but didn't work so well one night when the little tiny radar return wasn't a small boat, but instead was the conning tower of a fleet ballistic submarine.

And idiot ferryboats have caused me a few tense moments, both in the English Channel and the Straights of Messina, in real life I learned that there are the colregs; the rule of gross tonnage; and then trumping all of that, ferryboats reign supreme.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

You bring up a good point--small boat, possibly driven by young captain. Should young captains be allowed to....eh....captain? What are the CG restrictions on age and boat driving abilities?

I also agree that the speedboaters should have taken "evasive action" when they realized that the give-way vessel wasn't, for whatever reason. The CG might have been the one in violation of the rules, but "it takes two to tango." I also still think it extremely irresponsible for the speedboaters to not have a radio, and to not have life jackets on.

When driving a small car, you should always wear your seatbelt. When driving a small speedboat, you have to watch out, because if there is an accident, you'll be the smaller guy.

 

[archman]

Wasn't this case already resolved, and the Coast Guard found the party to be at fault?

I thought I read a blurb about this on youtube or something.