Farwell's Rules of the Nautical Road 8th Edition by Craig H Allen

Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2005. ISBN 1591140080 

Professional mariners, military and civilian, will find this book to be an invaluable reference in understanding the rules of the road and the role these rules play in managing the risk of collision. The author provides a thorough commentary on the rules and an analysis of collision cases involving abuse of the rules. Maritime attorneys and judges will find the book continues to be an indispensable reference on collision law as Craig Allen provides a mariner’s insight into how the rules apply in context and their application by the courts and administrative tribunals. This new edition completely revises chapters on the rules pertaining to good seamanship and special circumstances and on restricted visibility, and it vastly expands coverage of the narrow channel rule, traffic separation schemes, and the application of the rules to high-speed craft. It also extensively revises materials on the look out and risk of collision responsibilities to update coverage on radar and ARPA and to address new technologies, such as integrated bridge systems, automatic identification systems, voyage data recorders and the increasingly active role of VTS. The first update in ten years, the eighth edition upholds and even surpasses the standards set over the past sixty years of the guide’s publication.

Author Craig H Allen is a professor at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle where he teaches maritime law courses. Prior to this he served in the US Coast Guard; sailing on five cutters as well as shore duty as a marine inspector, marine casualty investigator and attorney. He is also a member of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the US Maritime Law Association.

Allen has added provision for some of the modern technologies and practices employed at sea such as AIS, ARPA, ECDIS, IBS, VTS and TSS which is very useful.

However the work lacks a few things which would've made the book truly indispensable such as the difference between US and International buoyage, application of the International Code of Signals and information for bridge watchkeepers derived from Digital Select Calling (DSC) and GMDSS.

However these minor quibbles aside, this latest edition of Farwell's is highly recommended and should be on the desk of every maritime officer trainee along with Bowditch.

 

Order a Copy