Rules of the road at sea are long established. Founded on the customary practice of seafarers, the rules have evolved into international regulations obeyed by ships of all nations. The first statutory regulations for British ships appeared in 18461. These were replaced in 1863 by a complete statutory code of rules for the prevention of collisions at sea2. This 1863 code was adopted by the maritime nations of the world and set the pattern for the modern collision regulations.

With the development of shipping over the years the regulations have been revised3, but until the 1972 revision4 the order of the regulations remained virtually the same. Thus, the rule for crossing steamers was Rule 19 of the 1948 and 1960 Collision Regulations. Now, in the 1972 Rules the “old order changeth yielding place to new.” The mariners and practitioners who are conversant with the 1960 Regulations need not despair; the 1972 Rules contain innovations, but the general rule-of-the-road for ships remains unchanged.

The 1972 Regulations embody the 1960 Rules (albeit with some rules having different phraseology) together with many additional rules—made necessary in the light of modern technical developments and the increase in the size and draught of ships—the whole being compiled in a logical arrangement of Rules and Appendices.

The division of the rules into five parts and the relegation of technical details to the accompanying annexes is to be welcomed. The rules proper are contained in the five parts, A to E, with Part B being subdivided according to the condition of visibility. The Annexes contain the technical details of sound signal appliances, additional signals for fishing vessels fishing in close proximity, and the distress signals.

Part A, the general part, contains three rules. Rule 1 states the application of the rules—this is a sensible collation of the 1960 “application” Rules 1 (a), 30, and 13 (b)—while sub-rule 1 (d) of the 1972 Regulations embraces the traffic separation schemes adopted by the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO). The “escape” and “liability” rules of the 1960 Collision Regulations5 have been wisely incorporated into a single rule and prominently positioned as Rule 2. The definitions of the 1960 Rules have been improved in the 1972 Regulations.

The ambit of the word vessel has been widened to include “non-displacement craft”—thus, the hovercraft on the water is now without a doubt a “vessel”—and the term “vessel not under command” has been clarified in the rule to mean a vessel which