COLREGS 15: Rule 18

Responsibilities between vessels

The rules we have covered so far deal with situations involving two vessels of the same type; two Sailing Vessels (Rule 12) or two Power Driven Vessels (Rules 14 and 15). Rule 13 does not differentiate; whichever vessel is overtaking must keep clear, regardless of her type. The impeding requirements (from Rules 9 and 10) introduced the idea of vessels having additional obligations (not to impede) based on their type, but remember; those are not give-way obligations. Rule 18 is a big rule, so instead of having examples in this article those will be in the next article in the series.