🔍 Key Concepts

• Rule 24 – Towing and Pushing in the Navigation Rules • Difference between a power‑driven vessel underway and a vessel pushing ahead or towing alongside • Meaning of a composite unit and when it is treated as one power‑driven vessel

💭 Think About

• First decide: is this situation treated as an ordinary power‑driven vessel underway, or as a towing/pushing vessel under Rule 24? • Ask yourself whether the length of the towing vessel (30 meters) actually changes the required number of masthead lights in a pushing‑ahead situation. • Think about whether this is described as a rigidly connected "composite unit" or just a tug pushing barges ahead—how does that affect the lights required?

✅ Before You Answer

• Look carefully at Rule 24(c) (pushing ahead or towing alongside) and note exactly how many masthead lights it specifies. • Check whether Rule 23 (power‑driven vessels underway) changes the count of masthead lights based on vessel length, and whether that length clause applies when the vessel is in a towing/pushing configuration. • Confirm whether the question mentions a composite unit; if it does not, be careful not to apply the composite‑unit rule by mistake.