🔍 Key Concepts

• Rule 34(d) – Doubt or failure to understand in the Navigation Rules (sound signals in restricted visibility and meeting/overtaking situations) • The purpose of the danger signal of at least five short and rapid blasts • Whether sound signals like this are limited to a specific role (stand-on or give-way) or based on any vessel’s doubt

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: When a vessel is unsure of the other vessel’s intentions or actions, does only one specific vessel (stand-on or give-way) have the right to indicate doubt, or can doubt arise on either side? • Consider what the rules say about who may use the danger signal: Is it tied to the COLREGS ‘right of way’ status, or is it a general safety tool available to resolve confusion? • Think about the goal of the Navigation Rules: Would safety be improved or reduced if only one of the two vessels in a meeting situation could sound the danger signal?

✅ Before You Answer

• Check Rule 34(d) wording carefully – look for phrases like "any vessel" or language limiting the signal to a certain type of vessel. • Verify if the rule mentions stand-on or give-way vessel in relation to the five short rapid blasts, or if it just refers to a vessel in doubt. • Confirm that the question is specifically about a meeting situation, but the use of the danger signal is actually triggered by doubt or failure to understand, not by who is stand-on or give-way.