🔍 Key Concepts

• Rule 24 – Towing and Pushing in the Navigation Rules (COLREGS/Inland) • Difference between lights that indicate length of the towing vessel vs length of the tow • Meaning of two vs three masthead (towing) lights in a vertical line

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: when does a towing vessel display two masthead lights, and when must it add a third? • Which is normally used to show that the tow itself is very long – a special arrangement of masthead lights on the tug, or the presence of yellow towing lights and tow lights aft? • Look at the wording carefully: are masthead lights on the towing vessel used to indicate the tug’s own length, or the length of the tow behind it?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify in Rule 24 whether three masthead lights in a vertical line are tied to the length of the tow (over/under 200 meters) or the length of the tug (over/under 50 meters). • Check if the rule ever uses the number of forward white masthead lights to distinguish between greater than 50 m and less than 50 m tug length. • Confirm that the 200-meter figure in Rule 24 refers to the overall length of the tow (from tug to end of tow), not just the length of the tug.