96032 Alter Course To Port

Incorrectly Altering Course to Port (2)

Report No. 96032

Own vessel was en route from Zeebrugge and crossing the general flow oftraffic just west of the Greenwich buoy in the English Channel to head downto Le Havre. The senior OOW was on watch and I noted that he was watchingthe bearing of a vessel about 3 miles off and 3 points on the starboardbow. He told me that the bearing of this vessel was opening very slowlyand that he would alter course. Thinking that everything was under control,and not wishing to undermine him too much in the presence of a junior officerwho was about to take over the watch, I did not interfere. When I next raisedmy head from the chart table I noted that, instead of altering course tostarboard to come round the other vessel's stern, he had altered courseto port to widen the angle and crossing distance from the other vessel.This had the desired effect but in the end resulted in our vessel crossingahead of the other vessel closer than I would have liked and I did not considerit to be a seamanlike manoeuvre. As the senior OOW came off watch, I queriedhim about his decision and asked why he had altered course to port. He seemedtotally taken aback that there should have been any other option until Ipointed out to him that his action had resulted in us crossing ahead ofthe other vessel and was in contravention of COLREGS Rule 15. This is anindication that many officers only have a very basic understanding of theCollision Regulations. This is not necessarily their fault but the faultof the training establishments in not providing an in-depth study of theRegulations. As we all know, the more that the Regulations are studied,the more complicated they can become, until one gains a deeper understandingof them and everything falls into place.