Close encounter with a large tug- in fog

[KeelHaulin]

Originally Posted by jrd22

I still would not cross in front of the northbound traffic (starboard turn) to get to the west side of the TSS given the amount of traffic in the southbound lanes that were overtaking me (from the kettle to the fire?) and I would not travel south in the northbound lanes either. So that leaves me still turning to port to give additional separation to the northbound target. What seemed to me as plenty of room must not have been OK with the tug. As soon as I realised that he had changed course (after my first 45 degree turn) I should have made a 90 degree turn to port and gone into shallow water(thanks Sailaway!) and stopped. I should have figured that if he did not understand my intentions I would need to make it very obvious. What is clear to you may be totally confusing to the other vessel.

I still don't think you have "learned" that your error(s) were:

Don't continue making headway or speed up when you are in a crossing situation in the fog. It makes no difference if you make sharp turns to display your "intent" when you are in the fog; the opposing vessel may not have their eyes glued to their display and they definitely can't see you with their eyes (until you are close). You MUST assume that they are completely blind and deaf. Reducing speed will only increase the time to determine a safe maneuver and it gives you time to determine what the opposing vessel might do.

Don't turn to port! The rule is turn starboard if possible. If not; STOP! I'm going to re-quote the relavent text that Sequitur posted from Rule 19:

so far as possible the following shall be avoided:

(i) An alteration of course to port for a vessel forward of the beam, other than for a vessel being overtaken.

(ii) An alteration of course toward a vessel abeam or abaft the beam.

(e) Except where it has been determined that a risk of collision does not exist, every vessel which hears apparently forward of her beam the fog signal of another vessel, or which cannot avoid a close-quarters situation with another vessel forward of her beam, shall reduce her speed to be the minimum at which she can be kept on her course. She shall if necessary take all her way off and in any event navigate with extreme caution until danger of collision is over.

[jrd22]

Keelhaulin-appreciate your thoughts. With perfect 20/20 hindsight turning across the bow of an approaching target into the northbound shipping lanes while traveling south might have worked out OK. On the other hand, if the tug continued on it's course in the lane(as you would expect it to) I could have found myself in a very ticklish situation. There was traffic overtaking me about 2-3NM astern in the southbound lane, strong swirling currents in mid channel and I was only making about 3.5K over the ground- in other words I could have ended up between two large ships with no room to maneuver in fog and strong currents trying to hide in a very thin seperation zone. Had there been a collision I don't know how I would explain that I (50 ton Master) knowingly and willingly crossed into the shipping lane going the wrong direction with a ship approaching in fog across the course of the northbound vessel. The lawyers would have had a field day. The key words in the rules you correctly quoted are "if possible" meaning "if possible to execute safely". Based on all the input given here and my first hand knowledge of the situation I'll stand by my conclusions knowing many have simply concluded that since I turned to port I was wrong. It was an ongoing, dynamic situation that changed very rapidly without much time to analyze or second guess. What I still don't understand is why the tug didn't just maintain his original course in the shipping lane and pass safely stb to stb with me well outside the edge of the lane. He also never slowed down even when right on top of me and never sounded a signal. If I could tell that he was in the lane and we were on a parallel course(and I could), he certainly should have been able to-probably had enough electronics onboard to buy my boat twice over. I honestly think he was half asleep and mistook me for a buoy or something because I was moving so slowly, nothing else can explain his aiming directly at me and never taking any evasive action.
I'm going to go down to the boat and see if my track is still on the chartplotter(should be, haven't gone far since then), if it is I will try to take a picture of it and post it. Should have thought of it sooner, of course the targets on the radar won't be there, but it might make it easier to visualize the situation.

Regards,
John

[KeelHaulin]

John-

I re-read your original post; and it still looks to me like the tug operator was just trying to do his best to avoid you by turning to starboard. Maybe he was also trying to stay outside or on the edge of the shipping lane for safety and he figured that if he turns to starboard (as required) and you turn to starboard or maintain course you would pass port-to-port without problem. Tugs often don't (nor are they required to) stay in the shipping lanes; so long as they are not at risk of going aground. It's possible he thought you were another tug operator or commercial boat; and the routine traffic alongside the "lane" is port-to-port when it's foggy.

The hard turn to Port after he crossed your stern is clear indication that the tug operator saw you on his radar and was trying to avoid running into you (he was returning to his previous course after getting clear of you). I think your hard turn to starboard when at close range was the correct thing to do to avoid the collision; next time try easing over to starboard before it gets to a close quarters situation. I would not expect other large boats to be in close proximity to the starboard of the tug (unless the tug had a tow or ship alongside); in which case you should see it on the radar.

I think if you look at your track data you might find that your turn(s) to port put you further from the shipping lane; and if you had stayed on your original course you would have passed the tug port-to-port without a major course correction. He likely would have eased to starboard and went by with plenty of room.

I don't know what the exact speed of the tug was but it seems that he should have slowed down more (but hard to say he might have slowed down but you did not see it). I still think his turns to starboard were to avoid collision (as the regs require) rather than to cause one. Tug operators tend to be VERY aware of the navigation regulations and follow them to the letter. It's a long tough road to become a tug captain; and turning to port when approaching another vessel in the fog would be an unwise career move for them in -most- situations...