Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Name:

E-mail:

Phone Number:

Zip Code:

Your Question:

Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Safety at Sea

An old Third Mate once spotted a deck cadet on the bridge of a ship on the first night of his first voyage to sea, studying the "Lights and Shapes" section of the International Rules of the Road. The cadet was trying to figure out what all those red, white, and green lights were that he could see on the horizon. For example, he knew that if saw a ship's red light at night he was seeing a ship's port or left side (Port wine is red), if he saw a green light he was looking at the ship's starboard side, but that if he saw both red and green lights, the ship was heading straight towards him.

The Third Mate on watch was a kindly but mischievous sole who "came up through the hawse pipe," meaning that he learned his trade by working as a seaman and not by going to school. He offered to help the deck cadet with his studies by drawing examples of the more unusual lights a ship's officer might see at night while at sea.

One of the sketches he drew showed a red light on the left, a green light on the right, and three white lights in a row between the red and green lights. The deck cadet had to admit he was stumped. Three white lights in a row usually means that the vessel is a tug towing a barge with a length of tow over 300 feet. However, the red and green lights were the opposite of what one would expect to see on an approaching tug boat. "This can't be right" complained the cadet. "The red should be on the left and the green on the right," but the Third Mate assured him that his sketch was accurate, and that if the cadet would think about it, the answer would come to him.

Several days later, the cadet admitted he couldn't figure it out. The Third Mate scolded him and said "you see, you maritime academy guys aren't so smart after all." "Well what is it?" asked the cadet. "Any fool could figure it out. It's a seaplane, flying upside down, pulling a tow in excess of 300 feet in length."