when is a lookout on a vessel required

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when is a lookout on a vessel required

Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.

Keep a Proper Lookout

As boat captain, it’s your responsibility to maintain an unobstructed view from the helm.

Remember what Mom taught you, where the sidewalk met the street? “Stop, look and listen before you cross the street. Use your eyes, use your ears, and then use your feet.”

Change stop to prudent speed, eyes and ears to all available senses and aids.

and feet to throttle, and you’ve got a pretty good condensation of Rule 5 of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, the granddaddy of boating rules.

Rule 5 requires that every vessel “shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight .

and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.”

As boat operator, that’s your responsibility

It means maintaining an unobstructed view from the helm, to continuously eye waters off the bow.

and starboard and port sides, for boats, swimmers and swimming areas, skiers, flags, fish-net and other buoys, floating debris and obstacles such as stumps and bars.

It means adjusting boat-handling for conditions such as darkness, fog, and boat traffic. Mom told you to stop at the street; on the water, slowing might be a sound strategy when lookout work gets difficult.

Watch behind too, for a boat that might overtake you

You can designate a lookout helper, and he or she can be a real safety asset, but you’re still responsible.

You just know that if Mom had binoculars, night vision devices, radar, sonar, a VHF radio and other aids to safe street crossing, she’d have included them in the rhyme. If your boat has equipment such as radar, radio or other gear, Rule 5 requires you to use it to help avoid collisions.

(Common sense dictates that you don’t let other equipment, such as smart phone or stereo, distract you from a proper lookout.)

Mom’s advice was a solid start, for any boater.

Rule 5 takes it a step further: in short, it says watch to make sure you don’t hit anything, and that nothing hits you.

Random Posts

The legal requirements and ramifications of COLREGS Rule 5

In September 2015, a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain delivering a 60-foot boat from the Newport.

Rhode Island, boat show to another boat show in Norwalk, Connecticut, ran over a small fishing boat, killing the lone occupant.

After a trial this spring, the captain was found guilty of.

among other things, failing to keep a proper lookout. He said at trial that he hadn’t seen the 23-foot boat.

Often termed the first rule of seamanship, Rule 5 of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) expressly requires that .

“[e]very vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.”

Here’s a practical perspective to assist the recreational boater.

All mariners must utilize sight

All mariners must utilize sight, sound, and all available means to monitor the presence and location of other vessels to avoid risk of collision, stranding, and other hazards to navigation.

Courts have interpreted this to include the power and speed of your vessel, other vessels, prevailing weather and sea conditions, visibility, traffic density, proximity of navigational hazards, as well as other allision (running into something stationary) and grounding risks.

recreational vessel owner

For a recreational vessel owner or operator who takes to the seas alone, complying with the lookout rule is not exactly as cut-and-dried as one may think.

If a skipper decides to act as his or her own lookout, there must be an unobstructed view from the steering station.

and there should be no conditions that would require a posted lookout, such as restricted visibility or a crowded waterway.

Explanation

Maintaining a proper look-out at all times is an important part of safe watchkeeping, this includes posting a seaman as look-out from dusk to dawn.

and sometimes by day, especially when the visibility is restricted.

Requirements for safe watchkeeping are laid down in Chapter VIII of the International Convention on Standards of Training,

Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers.

The look-out man should, if possible, be stationed forward, unless weather conditions
make this impossible, so that his attention will not be distracted.

A further advantage is that he/she may be more likely to hear fog signals coming from ahead.

Other factors such as the need to have a seaman immediately available in case of emergency .

and the benefit of being able to communicate directly with the look-out man should be remembered.

Duty Of look-out

The look-out should report any lights, vessels or large floating objects which he sees, and, in low visibility, any fog signals which he hears.

However, in crowded waters, he could not be expected to report everything he sees;

he must use his discretion and report the lights or objects which are likely to bring risk of collision.

especially small craft which may not have been observed from the bridge.

Use of radar

Proper use in restricted visibility also at night in clear visibility when passing through areas.

where there were known to be numerous structures which are not always adequately lit.

The radar should, be kept in use for the purpose of keeping a general lookout in coastal waters and other areas where regular traffic is likely to be encountered.

especially at night.
The radar can be used assessing visibility more accurately Rule 6(b)(vi).

Full appraisal of the situation

when is a lookout on a vessel required

To keep a proper look-out the officer of the watch, or person in charge.

must also pay attention to what is happening on his own vessel keeping a check on the steering .

and seeing that equipment required for keeping the vessel on course is functioning correctly.

Anchor watch

when is a lookout on a vessel required

The duty to keep a proper look-out applies also when a vessel is at
anchor, especially if there is a strong tide running, or if other vessels
are likely to be passing by. Most importantly, a ‘proper look-out’ means one, which takes in the whole 360-degree panorama. Crew assisting the OOW should regularly report what they are observing.

Vessel (structure)

Vessel (TKA) is a structure and visitor attraction built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Built to plans by the British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the elaborate honeycomb-like structure rises 16 stories and consists of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings for visitors to climb. Vessel is the main feature of the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Hudson Yards Public Square. Funded by Hudson Yards developer Related Companies, its final cost is estimated at $200 million.