🔍 Key Concepts

• Rule 9 – Narrow Channels: Responsibilities of vessels in or near a narrow channel • Difference between a normal crossing situation (Rule 15) and a vessel that must use a narrow channel • Meaning of “shall not impede the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate only within a narrow channel or fairway”

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: in a narrow channel, which vessel is expected to stay in the channel and which one can more easily maneuver or stay clear? • Consider whether the usual port/starboard crossing rule is the only factor here, or whether special narrow-channel responsibilities apply. • Think about what your small motorboat is required to do when a large tankship is coming up a marked channel and you are crossing it.

✅ Before You Answer

• Check the exact wording of Rule 9(b) and 9(d) about vessels that can safely navigate only in a narrow channel and vessels crossing a narrow channel. • Verify whether vessel size alone makes a ship stand-on under the Rules (is "larger vessel" ever a stand-on criterion?). • Confirm whether a small power-driven vessel crossing a channel is allowed to impede the safe passage of a vessel that must remain in the channel.