COLREGs in STCW Convention

Studies have shown that vessel collisions have been identified as one of the most frequent type of accidents. According to some authors, the main reason for that is the lack of understanding or a wrong interpretation of International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. For the purpose of this paper, the answers of 625 respondents who participated in the research that was a part of the Avoiding Collisions at Sea project were analysed. The purpose of the project was to improve learning methods of COLREGs within the study programmes as well as to improve knowledge and understanding of seafarers. For the purpose of this paper the answers of respondents with some experience at sea were analysed; 60 of them have served on vessels that had participated in collisions. The authors have studied areas where collisions occurred. Besides, competences prescribed by the STCW Convention, which refer to International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, teaching methods, methods for demonstrating competences and criteria for evaluating competences, were analysed as well. The answers obtained from 66 lecturers of International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea were analysed and compared to the answers of other respondents in order to determine the most efficient teaching methods and to suggest methods of improvement, which is the primary purpose of this paper.