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Art. 17.- Every vessel overtaking any other
vessel shall keep out of the way of the said
last-mentioned vessel.

Art. 18.-"Where by the above rules one of
two ships is to keep out of the way, the
other shall keep her course, subject to the
qualifications contained in the following
article.

Art. 19.-" In obeying and construing these
rules, due regard must be had to all dangers
of navigation; and due regard must also be
had to any special circumstances which may
exist in any particular case, rendering a de-
parture from the above rules necessary in
order to avoid immediate danger."

"Keeping out of the way," in Art. 14, must be done either by starboarding or porting, according to circumstances (a).

having ships

in tow,

The above cited decisions have reference to the Steamers steering of steamers going alone: we are in the next place to consider the duties of steamers having vessels in tow.

always to be

free.

The earliest case bearing on this subject is that are not of the Kingston-by-Sea (b). "It has been urged," regarded as said Dr. Lushington, "that a steamer is always to be considered as having the wind free, whether she has another vessel in tow or not. To this proposition I cannot accede. It is true, a steamer is considered always to have the wind free; but it

(a) Cognac, 10 Mitch. 367.

(b) 3 W. Rob. 152.

Ship towed and tug

treated as one vessel.

does not, in my opinion, follow that a steamer having a merchant vessel in tow is always free. That will depend, I conceive, upon the state of the wind and weather, the direction in which the steamer is towing, and the nature of the impediments that she may meet with in her course."

These expressions were adopted by the Judicial Committee of Privy Council, in the case of the Independence, as accurately stating the law on this point (a).

The

The next case upon the subject is that of the Cleadon. A steamer, having the ship Cleadon in tow, had crossed the bows of the ship A. H. Stevens, which was closehauled on the starboard tack. Cleadon had not crossed her bows; but it was found by the Trinity Masters that she was in such a position that, if both vessels had continued their respective courses, they would have cleared each other. The tug, and of course the Cleadon, continued her course without alteration; but the A. H. Stevens ported her helm, and ran into the Cleadon. The Court held that the A. H. Stevens was solely in fault; and this was affirmed in Privy Council, In giving judgment in the latter Court, Lord Chelmsford said :-"The Cleadon being in tow of the steam-tug, it is admitted in the case that she and the tug must be considered to be one vessel, the motive power being in the tug, the governing power in the vessel that was towed. It was her duty, being in fact a steamer, to get out of the

(a) 1 Lush. 278.

way of another vessel that she was meeting; and this more especially became incumbent upon her, from the situation in which she was placed; because, as it appears, there is nothing which can indicate to any other vessel that a vessel is being towed, and of course, under such circumstances, the combined vessels being a very long body, and a vessel meeting them taking for granted, by seeing the lights, that they are independent vessels, they ought to be more careful, under such circumstances, to give a wide berth to any vessel that they are meeting."

The facts of the case, however, rendered it unnecessary to apply the principle here laid down; it appearing that, under the actual circumstances, the Cleadon and her tug were justified in holding on their course. The A. H. Stevens must, in the opinion of their lordships, have known that the Cleadon was in tow of the steamer, and consequently could do nothing but follow her; and for this reason they held that the A. H. Stevens did wrong in porting her helm (a).

In the case of the Independence, it was expressly decided that a steamer having a vessel in tow is not under the same absolute obligation to make way for a sailing vessel, as a steamer going alone.

The schooner Arthur Gordon, heading about N.N.W., was closehauled on the port tack: the steamer Independence, having in tow a large vessel called the J. K. L., was steaming about W.N.W.

(a) Cleadon, 1 Lush. 158.

When ship in ship close

tow meets

hauled on port tack, both ought to give way.

Each vessel sighted the other, in the first instance, at a long distance, bearing upon the beam, the steamer being on the lee beam of the Arthur Gordon. Each vessel held on her course until a collision was inevitable; they came into contact, and both vessels almost immediately sunk.

In the Admiralty Court, Dr. Lushington, after pointing out that the two vessels were not meeting, but crossing each other's tracks, and that consequently the then existing Regulations (those of the Act of 1854) did not apply, but the case must be determined independently of statute, proceeded to say that, as the sailing ship was closehauled, it must be admitted without question that, if the steamer had had no vessel in tow, it would have been her duty to have made way. Whether the same obligation was imposed, in broad daylight, upon a steamer which was engaged in towing, was a question, he said, for the Trinity Masters to determine. pointed out to them, however, that the reason why a steamer was bound to make way for a sailing ship was, the comparative ease with which steamer could quit and return to her course; and that, while a steamer, steaming alone, could do anything, a steamer which had a vessel in tow could not always have the same facility of movement as if unincumbered. The Trinity Masters, nevertheless, appear to have held that the tug ought to have given way; and the Independence was pronounced solely in fault.

He

From this judgment an appeal was carried to the Privy Council,

In giving judgment, Lord Kingsdown said :— "It was urged in support of the decree, that a steamtug with a ship in tow is in no degree in a different situation from a steamer unincumbered, and that, as such a steamer would have been bound to give way to a ship closehauled, the steamtug in this case was equally bound to do so. Their lordships are not prepared to adopt that principle, and they agree with Dr. Lushington, that there is a very material distinction between the two cases. A steamer unincumbered is nearly independent of the wind. She can turn out of her course, and turn into it again, with little difficulty or inconvenience. She can slacken or increase her speed, stop or reverse her engines, and can move in one direction or the other with the utmost facility. She is, therefore, with reason, considered bound to give way to a sailing vessel closehauled, which is less subject to control and less manageable. But a steamer with a ship in tow is in a very different situation. She is not, in anything like the same degree, the mistress of her own motions; she is under the control of, and has to consider, the ship to which she is attached, and of which, as their lordships observed in the case of the Cleadon,' she may for many purposes be considered as a part, the motive power being in the steamer, and the governing power being in the ship towed." She cannot, by stopping or reversing her engines, at once stop or back the ship which is following her. By slipping aside out of the way of an approaching vessel, she cannot at once, and with

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