Page 17 - Collision Avoidance Rules Guide

HISTORY OF THE COLLISION
RE GUL AT1 ON S

For several hundred years there have been rules in existence for the
purpose of preventing collisions at sea, but there were no rules of
statutory force until the last century. In 1840 the London Trinity
House drew up a set of regulations which were enacted in Parliament
in 1846. One of these required a steam vessel passing another vessel
in a narrow channel to leave the other on her own port hand. The
other regulation relating to steam ships required steam vessels on
different courses, crossing so as to involve risk of collision, to alter
course to starboard so as to pass on the port side of each other. There
were also regulations for vessels under sail including a rule, estab-
lished in the eighteenth century, requiring a sailing vessel on the port
tack to give way to a sailing vessel on the starboard tack.
The two Trinity House rules for steam vessels were combined into
a single rule and included in the Steam Navigation Act of 1846.
Admiralty regulations concerning lights were included in this statute
two years later. Steam ships were required to carry green and red side-
lights as well as a white masthead light. In 1858 coloured sidelights
were prescribed for sailing vessels and fog signals were required to
be given, by steam vessels on the whistle and by sailing vessels on
the fog horn or bell.
A completely new set of rules drawn up by the British Board
of Trade, in consultation with the French Government, came into
operation in 1863. By the end of 1864 these regulations, known as
Articles, had been adopted by over thirty maritime countries includ-
ing the United States and Germany.
Several important regulations which are still in force were intro-
duced at that time. When steam vessels were crossing so as to involve
risk of collision the vessel with the other on her own starboard side
was required to keep out of the way. Steam vessels meeting end-on
or nearly end-on were required to alter course to starboard. Every
vessel overtaking any other had to keep out of the way of the vessel
being overtaken. Where by any of the rules one vessel was to keep
out of the way the other was required to keep her course.
In 1867 Mi Thomas Gray, Assistant Secretary to the Marine
Department of the Board of Trade, wrote a pamphlet on the Rule of the

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