Treat Coxswain Grade 2 NC preparation as decision training: identify the encounter, check bearing drift, classify the signal, choose the action early and substantially, and match your radio call to the true urgency level. Drill each step against written scenarios and score yourself with the rubric in the final section.
Reading the encounter first: who gives way when two power-driven vessels meet
Classify the encounter as overtaking, head-on or crossing before choosing an action, then confirm risk of collision with a compass bearing check. A steady bearing with a closing range means risk exists and the give-way vessel must act early and substantially.
Overtaking means coming up from anywhere more than 22.5 degrees abaft the beam; the overtaking vessel keeps clear regardless of sail or power. Head-on means power-driven vessels meeting end-on or nearly so, each altering to starboard for a port-to-port pass. Crossing between power-driven vessels applies the starboard-side rule: the vessel with the other on her own starboard side keeps out of the way and avoids crossing ahead.
Worked scenario: at night you see a red sidelight with a masthead light fine on your starboard bow, and the bearing stays near 045 degrees relative as the range closes. A common first instinct is to read the red light as a vague warning and make a small hold-your-course decision, or to alter to port late and slice across her bow. The better decision is to confirm the constant bearing, recognise that in a crossing situation between power-driven vessels you are the give-way vessel, and make an early, obvious alteration to starboard or reduce speed to let her pass ahead. The difference matters because a late or ambiguous turn gives the other bridge no readable intention and compresses both crews' decision time.
| Encounter | How you identify it | Who keeps clear | Typical good action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overtaking | You see the other vessel from more than 22.5 degrees abaft your beam, or you are being overtaken | The overtaking vessel, in every mode (power or sail) | Pass well clear on either side; the overtaken vessel may hold course and speed |
| Head-on | Power-driven vessels see each other end-on or nearly so, often both sidelights and masthead lights in line | Neither is give-way; both act | Each alters to starboard for a port-to-port passage |
| Crossing | A power-driven vessel approaches from forward of your beam on a steady bearing | The vessel with the other on her own starboard side | Alter starboard, slow, or stop so you pass astern of the stand-on vessel |
Stand-on is not right of way: the limits of holding course and speed
The Collision Regulations deliberately avoid the phrase right of way. Stand-on vessels keep course and speed initially, may act when the give-way vessel clearly is not, and must never rely on their status to engineer a close-quarters situation.
Learn the two halves of the stand-on obligation as separate decisions. First, the stand-on vessel keeps course and speed so the give-way vessel can predict her movement; changing course unpredictably at the wrong moment can manufacture a collision. Second, when it becomes apparent the give-way vessel is not taking appropriate action, the stand-on vessel is permitted, and in a power-driven vessel crossing case is directed, to act, and a power-driven vessel must not alter to port for a vessel on her own port side.
Worked scenario: you are standing on in a marked channel while a small craft crosses from your port side, closing fast and showing no sign of altering. The plausible mistake is treating your status as a shield, holding course into a rapidly shrinking gap while broadcasting your frustration. The better decision is to recognise the trigger point where standing on stops being the rule and avoiding action becomes the rule, then make a bold, early, clearly visible manoeuvre, using sound or radio attention signals as appropriate. This matters because exam scenarios reward the seamanship outcome, a safe passing distance, rather than the argument about who was obligated.
Restricted visibility: why the crossing rules step aside in fog
In or near restricted visibility no vessel holds stand-on status. Every vessel proceeds at a safe speed adapted to the conditions, keeps engines ready for immediate manoeuvre, and reacts to fog signals and detected targets as the situation demands.
Restricted visibility removes the comfortable give-way and stand-on labels because neither crew can reliably see the other or read intentions. The applicable behaviour shifts to general precaution: safe speed for visibility and traffic, vigilance on all available means including radar where fitted, listening for sound signals, and when a target is detected forward of the beam by radar alone, avoiding an alteration to port, except when overtaking. Hearing a fog signal apparently forward of the beam is its own trigger to reduce way or stop.
Worked scenario: running a river bar in thick fog, you hear one prolonged blast sounding ahead but your radar shows no clear target. The plausible mistake is maintaining normal speed because you believe you are the stand-on vessel in the marked channel and the other party must keep clear. The better decision is to slow to minimum steerageway or stop, have the engine ready for astern movement, sound your own signal, and treat the sound source as a live hazard until it is resolved. This matters because in fog the give-way framework simply is not in force, and continuing at speed on a status assumption is the exact reasoning the scenario is designed to expose.
Decoding lights, shapes and sound signals before you commit to an action
Read the whole light or shape configuration, not a single colour, before deciding what the other vessel is and what she can manoeuvre. Sound signals describe a vessel's mode and movement, and your response should follow from the complete picture.
Build a decoding habit in three passes. Pass one: what mode is she in, power-driven, sailing, fishing, constrained by draught, not under command, or restricted in ability to manoeuvre, judged from masthead light heights, shapes by day, or towing lights and signals. Pass two: what is she telling you about her ability to manoeuvre, because a vessel showing not-under-command signals cannot be expected to keep clear however the encounter arises. Pass three: only then choose your action under the relevant steering rule.
The most useful error to rehearse against is anchoring on one light. Seeing a red sidelight in a crossing situation points one way, but that same red light below a different arrangement of lights can indicate a vessel constrained by her draught or a vessel under tow, each changing your obligations completely. Practise by sketching configurations and writing the vessel class, the operative rule and your action for each, then check yourself against the Regulation text. Speed of decoding, not memorised rule numbers, is the practical skill these configurations test.
- Sidelights, masthead light and stern light: power-driven vessel underway; apply the encounter rules of the first section.
- Sidelights with no masthead light: likely a sailing vessel; in an encounter with a power-driven vessel she is generally the stand-on vessel, with the overtaking exception.
- Vessel aground or not under command signals: treat as a vessel you must keep clear of, not negotiate with.
- Sound signals in or near visibility restrictions: listen for the pattern, identify mode, then slow or manoeuvre accordingly.
Choosing the right urgency level: distress, urgency and safety calls in order
Mayday signals grave and imminent danger requiring immediate assistance, pan-pan signals an urgent safety message concerning a vessel or person, and securite signals a safety or navigation warning. Match the call to the situation, then deliver position and nature clearly.
The three priorities form a ladder, and choosing the right rung is a genuine exam skill. A fire aboard, a person overboard, taking water, or any situation where lives are at grave and imminent risk belongs at mayday. Machinery failure or a person sighted in the water, urgent but not yet grave, belongs at pan-pan. Hazards to navigation, a drifting object or an unlit mark, belong at securite. Within a distress call, discipline the content: the signal and vessel name, position, nature of distress, assistance required, then anything else.
Worked scenario: smoke begins filling your engine bay with everyone aboard and the fire is not obviously controllable. The plausible mistake is starting at pan-pan because the vessel is still moving and nobody is hurt yet, intending to upgrade later. The better decision is to transmit mayday immediately with position and the nature of the distress, because the situation is grave and can turn imminent faster than a radio exchange can be repeated, and upgrading a call later is always available while downgrading attention already costs rescue coordination time. In Australia, search and rescue coordination in the Australian region sits with AMSA's rescue coordination arrangements, so an accurate first transmission shortens the path from your report to any response.
| Call | Situations it fits | Core content sequence |
|---|---|---|
| Mayday | Grave and imminent danger to life or vessel, requiring immediate assistance | Signal repeated, vessel name repeated, position, nature of distress, assistance required |
| Pan-pan | Urgency concerning the safety of the vessel or a person, no grave and imminent danger yet | Signal repeated, vessel name, position, nature of urgency, information needed or assistance sought |
| Securite | Safety messages: navigation hazards, weather warnings, drifting objects | Signal repeated, station name, the safety information itself |
The regulatory frame a coxswain works inside: SMS, incident reporting and vessel compliance
Coxswain study should connect seamanship decisions to the domestic commercial vessel framework: safety management systems, marine incident reporting to AMSA, the National Standard for Commercial Vessels, and the marine orders that govern operations.
A safety management system is a documented, systematic approach to managing safety aboard, and at coxswain level you should be able to describe how daily decisions plug into one: following stated procedures, recording events in logs, briefing crew, and feeding incidents back so procedures improve. The National Standard for Commercial Vessels sits above this as the design, construction and equipment standard for domestic commercial vessels, and the marine orders, including Marine Order 504 and Marine Order 505 areas, carry the operational requirements. Know what each layer answers rather than reciting clauses.
Link the paperwork reflexes to scenarios. When something goes wrong at sea, a marine incident can be reported to AMSA, and knowing that reporting channel, alongside distress beacon registration and MMSI arrangements, is part of the professional picture rather than an administrative afterthought. Tools such as My Boat help identify applicable safety equipment, and certificates of survey and of operation frame what a vessel may do. In study, practise asking of any scenario: what would my SMS say, what would I log, and what would need reporting afterwards.
A four-week scenario-first sequence with a self-check rubric and readiness checks
Spend week one building rule and signal vocabulary, week two drilling encounter geometry, week three on communications and the regulatory frame, and week four on mixed timed scenarios. Track yourself against observable milestones, not a predicted score.
Week one: read the steering and sailing rules with a sketch pad beside you, drawing each encounter as you go. Week two: run the drill below daily, adding night and restricted visibility variants. Week three: script radio calls aloud for mayday, pan-pan and securite, and map how SMS, incident reporting and the NSCV layer attach to each earlier scenario. Week four: build fifteen mixed scenarios from your own sketches, answer under time pressure, and re-drill only the categories you misjudge. Adjust the pacing to your own baseline; the sequence matters more than the calendar.
Practical exercise: draw eight random encounter geometries, assign lights to each vessel, then for each one write the encounter type, the bearing-drift check, who gives way, and your first action. Expected observations of a ready answer: correct encounter classification, an explicit steady-bearing check, the give-way relationship stated before the action, and an action that is early, substantial and does not cross ahead of a stand-on vessel. Self-check rubric, learning milestones only: seven or more fully correct classifications signals consolidation, five or six signals targeted re-drill of the missed type, and below five signals a return to the rules text with sketches before further drilling.
Readiness checks before you finish: you can decode any light configuration in under ten seconds; you can state, without prompting, what happens to stand-on status in restricted visibility; you can deliver a complete mayday sequence aloud with position and nature of distress; and you can explain how a scenario's aftermath flows into SMS records and marine incident reporting. Any single hesitation is a study target, not a verdict.
References and further reading
Use these references to explore the concepts and check the latest information from the relevant organizations.