We have heard many times the infamous calls on VHF radio, a request from one officer to another to change to channel 06 when a traffic situation is afoot. The mission here is to agree on how both vessels will proceed when in close proximity to each other. This would make any old sea dog cringe as this seems to be an issue persistent amongst the younger generation of officers. Is this an issue of the collision regulations being not made abundantly clear through theory and practice?
I think the act of having to communicate via VHF for collision avoidance at sea brings about many questions ranging from training to the confidence of officers and perhaps even regulations used for collision avoidance, COLREGS. However, to simply put it, I do not think there is anything blatantly wrong with COLREGS as these rules are written without ambiguity. We could then tackle the understanding and application of these rules.
Training institutions and many shipping companies offer current COLREGs training to deck officers through theory and simulation. Furthermore, deck officers' knowledge of COLREGS is tested through every part of every navigational assessment but yet almost none of these assessments have shown a lack of COLREGs understanding among deck officers. So, what influences the Officer of the Watch onboard a ship to see the need to discuss and negotiate collision avoidance actions on VHF radio?
Whilst you ponder on the matter, Southern Ocean Training Academy offers examination preparation classes to get you ready for the big assessment. Drop us a WhatsApp message or a COLREGs4Eva headline on our Facebook page and this will get our attention.