COLREGs · Rule 15
Crossing Situation
Last verified: 2026-05-16
TL;DR
When two power-driven vessels are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way and shall, if circumstances admit, avoid crossing ahead of the other.
Why it shows up on the exam
Mnemonic: 'green over green, no problem seen' is wrong — green-on-your-starboard means you are the give-way vessel.
Authoritative source
Source links checked against the current public rule corpus on 2026-05-16.
- 33 CFR §83.15— verbatim Inland Rule text (US Code of Federal Regulations)(retrieved 2026-05-16)
- International COLREGs Rule 15 verbatim text is published by the IMO. The Inland counterpart 33 CFR §83 chunk above mirrors the international wording almost verbatim.
Inland parallel
Inland Rule 15 — Crossing Situation →More from Part B-II — In Sight of One Another
Related drills
Drill COLREGs Rule 15
Try the free Rules of the Road practice questions (no sign-in), or sign in to drill citation-backed questions on this rule with immediate feedback and the source chunk in a popover.