RE: [Paddlewise] Kayaks and Visibility

Thanks for the kind words.

 

> how do individual local jurisdictions manage to enforce navigational rules
which are at odds with the International Rules? 

 

I believe you are looking at it back-to-front ;-)

 

The International ColRegs are just a guideline - even for those who have
signed up to them. 

 

The only people with enforcement capability _are_ the local / national
jurisdictions. They enforce whatever rules they like. If they like the
International ColRegs wording, they copy it. Or they modify it any darn way
they see fit - and then they enforce whatever they have created. With
whatever penalties they specify for infringements.

 

There is no Int.ColRegs police force anywhere. 

 

The only place you might argue that the International ColRegs are not
subject to local re-writing is in International waters. I'm not even sure
that is true, because (for example) Canadian registered vessels are subject
to Canadian law everywhere - unless it is overpowered by another country's
jurisdiction - and the Canadian Shipping Act (which includes the Canadian
version of the ColRegs) specifies that Canadian vessels in International
Waters must abide by a few special clauses. I don't think (again, my
reading) that these special clauses can be criticised as 'bad', because they
impose stricter requirements on Canadian Vessels - not slacker ones.
However, it illustrates the fact that the Int.ColRegs don't automatically
'Rule' anywhere.

 

I also doubt that many Navies of the world obey the Int.ColRegs 100%. Yes
they will obey them when they can, but there are certain elements of a
night-time torpedo run that work better if you put the rule book away ;-)

 

Best Regards

Paul
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