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At a typical current velocity of 3 mph, he would have a half hour to set the tow at a proper angle to ride the 300-ft wide chan- nel safely through the bridge piers; at a speed of 6 mph, he would have only 15 minutes to set the tow. This is a perfect illustration of why a powerful (10,000 hp) engine is needed to apply reverse thrust to the tow, and why the Coast Guard advised him to cut the size of his tow. If the tow were twice as long and the towboat had less power, he might not be able to set the tow fast enough to avoid the bridge piers. The Lookout Duty Rule No. 5 of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) states, "Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision." The lookout requirement is worded identically in the Inland Rules. Another way of putting it is Captain Tinkey's "four A's." The text of Rule 5 stresses the lookout role in facilitating a full appraisal of the situation and the risk of collision. The lookout duty has been described as "the first rule of safe navigation." In an 1865 decision concerning a collision between a steamship and a brig outside New York Harbor, the Supreme Court said, "Upon nothing else does the safety of those concerned so much depend. A moment's negligence on his (the lookout) part may involve the loss of his vessel with all the property and the lives of all on board. It is the duty of all courts charged with the administration of this branch of our jurisprudence to give it the fullest effect whenever the cir- cumstances are such to call for it application." The defendant in a collision/allision case should not look for a special exemption because of extremely bad weather, or because he had a very small boat, or because he had to go wake up the next watch, or because he was killing the boredom with a computer game, or because he had to make a head call, or because he was on a vessel at anchor. He should not look for special dispensations or for sympathy. The Supreme Court has spoken, and even though it was 150 years ago, their word is still Holy Writ. He should not expect an admiralty court or any other court to overthrow Holy Writ if his case goes to court. This is perhaps overstating the atti- tude of admiralty courts a bit, but the defendant should be aware that courts take the matter of maritime safety very seriously. Automatic Identification Since July 1, 2004, Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) Lower Mississippi River has required vessels of 50,000 gross tons or more on interna- tional voyages to carry AIS equipment. However, despite rulemak- ing that has been pending since 2008, and despite the safety and other advantages of AIS that have become apparent since its limit- ed mandated carriage, the technology is not yet required on all the inland waterways. Almost six years ago, the American Waterways Operators (AWO) endorsed a proposed USCG ruling requiring AIS carriage on the inland waterways (April 15, 2009, letter, AWO to USDOT). On December 24, 2015, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) completed its review of the NOAD-AIS rule. The rule now awaits the commandant's signa- ture prior to it being published in the Federal Register. Many inland vessels have already installed AIS equipment, either because they operate within VTS areas or because the owners have seen the benefit of carrying the equipment voluntarily. The U.S. Coast Guard's "Vessel Requirements for Notices of Arrival and Departure (NOAD) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) [USCG-2005-21869]" final rule regarding expansion of NOAD and AIS requirements in the U.S. is currently under EO 12886 Regulatory Review at OIRA — this is the final review prior to its publication. Most OIRA reviews take less than 90 days; this was a notice that this rule may be published prior to its current Semi- Annual Unified Regulatory Agenda prognostication, December 2014. (As of the date of this publication, the rule had not yet been published.) What is AIS? Picture a wheelhouse radar or an electronic chart display that includes a symbol for every significant ship within radio range, each as desired with a velocity vector (indicating speed and heading). Each ship "symbol" can reflect the actual size of the ship, with position derived by GPS or differential GPS. By "clicking" on a ship symbol, one can learn the ship name, course and speed, classification, call sign, registration number, Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) and other information. Maneuvering information, closest point of approach (CPA), time to closest point of approach (TCPA) and other navigation information, augmenting that available from an automatic radar plotting aid, can also be provided by navigation software using the AIS input. With this information, one can call any ship over VHF radiotele- phone by name, rather than by "ship off my port bow" or some other imprecise means (who knows where your port bow is if they cannot see you?). One can dial it up directly using GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) equipment. One can send to the vessel, or receive from it, short safety-related email messages. That tow approaching Mulatto Bend can identify and communi- cate with a ship that is anchored just beyond the bridge piers on a foggy night. The inland edition of JRC's JMA-5300MK2 radar is a result of lis- tening carefully to river boat captains and owners, and was devel- oped specifically for the river boats. AIS is not better than radar, but radar is blind to targets not within a line of sight trajectory, and AIS is not. AIS can supply target (or hazard) information that radar can- not see; thus, it improves the "available means" required by Rule 5. t r a n s p o r t t i p s c o n t i n u e d February 2015 www.coalage.com 27 Monitor display showing AIS targets not seen on radar. (Image courtesy of USCG NAVCEN)