In many cases involving collisions at night, the vessels will not see each other until too late. One of the steps in evaluating fault is to examine the navigational lights of the vessels involved. Larger vessels, particularly those inspected (certificated) by the Coast Guard, usually will have proper lights but recreational boats, tugs, tows and fishing vessels often have improper lights. In a number of cases, recreational boat manufacturers have installed lights which do not meet the required standards. Such boats are subject to defect notification requirements under 46 U.S.C. 4310.
The rules of the road determine what lights are required. There are two sets of rules, one for inland and one for operating on the high seas (COLREGS) as defined in 33 CFR 80. Note that the COLREGS are applied on certain waters which might be considered inland for other purposes, such as Puget Sound, Washington. While generally the standards are the same, there are some differences – for instance see rule 24(f)(I). Aside from the rules themselves, the Annexes to the rules, particularly Annex I (33 CFR 84) contain technical aspects and must be considered in examining the navigational lights. Some aspects of the lights, for instance luminous intensity, cannot e determined outside of a laboratory and thus the make and model of the light should be determined so that an exemplar light may be obtained and tested. MEC has Associates qualified to make the laboratory tests.
In examining the actual lights, the bulb characteristics must be obtained (wattage and voltage). The location of the bulb filament relative to the lens of the light is also important. Lenses are designed to provide optimal light when the filament of the bulb is in the center of the prismatic lens.
If the lights are operated from vessel’s power, a voltage check should be made at the light. If battery powered, find out how often the batteries are replaced, when they were last replaced and by whom, and when the batteries were purchased (shelf life considerations). It is unlikely that you will be able to test the actual batteries because, unless the investigator is able to test them within a few days, the voltage will have changed and they might even have been replaced.
The horizontal and vertical arcs of each light, if in question, should be measured. On recreational vessels particularly, side lights may be visible across the bow. Check to see that there are no obstructions which may interfere with the visibility of the light over part of its prescribed horizontal arc. Sometimes this can be a mast, an exhaust stack, a light raft, an awning or dingy which has been added to the boat after the tights were placed. The aft all around white light on certain recreational boats may no be visible from ahead when the bow rises underway. It may also be obscured on a recreational vessel because the light is mounted on the hull below a deck or under a pulpit. This may obscure the light from larger vessels which look down on the recreational boat.
Sailboats have a particular problem since they heel over while under sail. The lights must still maintain a minimum required intensity at either angle of heel. For that reason, the vertical arc of a light on a sailing vessel is required to have at least 50 percent of its minimum intensity between 25 degrees above and 25 degrees below the horizon.
Several cases come to mind that were resolved because of faulty lights.
In one case, a recreational boat collided at night with a log raft under tow on an inland lake with a resulting death. The first and most obvious violation was that the towing vessel did not have a "towing light" as required by rule 24(a)(iv). However, an even more important problem was found. The log raft which was hundreds of feet long, was required to have all around white lights. The vertical sector for these lights is set forth in annex I (33 CFR 84.19) and they must be shining at the required minimum intensity for 5 degrees above and below the horizon. The lights used were new and were not built for navigational purposes. An exemplar model was taken by the expert and given a simple test in a darken room to measure the approximate vertical arc. It was 1.5 degrees. Not only was it far less than the required arc, but the manner of attachment of the lights to the raft assured that it could not be set horizontally. The lights were portable and were mounted on the top of three to four foot metal spikes. Near the bottom of the spike in a log. If, through pure lick, the light was set with its arc horizontal, as the logs worked in the raft, it would change. This is a case that was settled very quickly once the facts became known.
Lights on anchored barges are often questioned after a boat collides with it at night. One of the things to remember is that anchored vessel lights (as well as those underway) often blend in with the background shore lights. Where such a collision occurs at night, the expert should go to the scene at night and approach the position of the anchored vessel from the same direction as the underway vessel. That will give him a good idea of the background lights. In one such case, the author who had done this long before trial, decided on the day before the trial to take photographs of the large parking area lights during the daylight to show the court the type of lights which were behind the anchored barge. They were persuasive to the court and no liability was found by the anchored bare.
In another case, the floating bridge in Lake Washington, Washington was under construction. Although there was an area where the main channel passed under the bridge, recreational boats would pass through at other locations since they did not require much overhead clearance. A barge was tied up on one side of the bridge at the opening next to the main channel and with cable secured two corners of the barge to the bridge. The corners on the outboard side had anchor cables. Because the mooring wires to the bridge had a catenary which placed them within four feet to the water, they were wrapped with reflective material and lights were hung from them. As fate would have it, a recreational boat passed under the bridge at night form the side opposite the bare and the two occupants were "high lined" by the wire. One was ejected byt the other was not and both survived. Investigation of the casualty disclosed several problems with lights. First, the light marking the channel was extinguished. The boat went through the opening adjacent to the channel. Secondly, the lights hung from the wires were yellow blinking construction lights. Have you ever looked at one of them sideways? They don’t produce much light to start with, but when seen edge on, they are only visible for a few feet. The reflective material only reflects light back to a source so if the boat was not using a searchlight, it had no warning effect. Again, the case settled quickly.
On recreational boats, there is another frequent problem. The white light reflects on the deck and the back scatter destroys the night vision of the operator. This can be remedied in some cases with a flat horizontal shield placed under the light.
Navigational lights for recreational boats were discussed in detail in the June issue of the Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Circular 75 which can be obtained free from U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Navigation Safety and Waterway Services, Washington, DC 20593-0001.
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