Rule 26 — Lights and Shapes for a Vessel Engaged in Fishing

What the rule requires

Two all-round lights in a vertical line identify a vessel engaged in fishing, and the colour of the upper one tells you which kind. A vessel engaged in trawling shows the upper light green and the lower white COLREGs Rule 26; a vessel engaged in fishing other than trawling shows the upper light red and the lower white 33 CFR §83.26. The long-standing devices are "green over white, trawling tonight" and "red over white, fishing tonight", and they are worth carrying into the exam room because a large share of the Rule 26 questions turn on nothing but that colour.

Trawling has a definition in the rule itself, and the definition is the trigger: dragging through the water a dredge net or other apparatus used as a fishing appliance. Gear that is being dragged makes the vessel a trawler for lighting purposes. Everything else engaged in fishing falls under the red-over-white display.

By day the two lights are replaced by a shape, and it is the same shape for both kinds of fishing: two cones with their apexes together in a vertical line, one above the other. The shape does not distinguish a trawler from a gillnetter. Only the lights do.

The masthead light belongs to trawlers alone

A trawler carries a masthead light abaft of and higher than the all-round green light, and a vessel of less than 50 meters in length is not obliged to exhibit such a light but may do so. No masthead light appears anywhere in paragraph (c). A vessel fishing other than by trawling shows no masthead light under this rule at any length.

That gives you a clean exam fact: of the vessels covered by Rule 26, the one that must show a masthead light when 50 meters or more in length is the trawler.

Sidelights and sternlight — the making-way switch

When making way through the water, sidelights and a sternlight are added to the lights already prescribed. Stopped in the water with her gear out, a vessel engaged in fishing shows the two all-round lights and nothing else from that group, even though she is underway.

Sidelights show through 112.5 degrees, from right ahead to 22.5 degrees abaft the beam on their own side, and the sternlight shows through 135 degrees, 67.5 degrees from right aft on each side COLREGs Rule 21. The arcs do not overlap, so from any one bearing you see a sidelight or the sternlight, never both.

Outlying gear

When there is outlying gear extending more than 150 meters horizontally from the vessel, a vessel fishing other than by trawling shows an all-round white light, or a cone apex upward, in the direction of the gear . The 150-metre figure is arbitrary; there is nothing to derive, so commit it. The cone points apex upward, unlike the two apexes-together cones of the main display.

Where that light goes is specified: at a horizontal distance of not less than 2 meters and not more than 6 meters from the two all-round red and white lights, placed not higher than the all-round white light and not lower than the sidelights 33 CFR §84.04.

Whether underway or at anchor, and the word "only"

A vessel engaged in fishing, whether underway or at anchor, shall exhibit only the lights and shapes prescribed in this Rule . Anchoring does not change the display. The word only is doing real work there, and it is the answer to a question that comes up in several forms.

The reverse holds as well: a vessel when not engaged in fishing shall not exhibit these lights or shapes, but only those prescribed for a vessel of her length .

Ranges and spacing

A white, red, green or yellow all-round light must be visible at 3 miles on a vessel of 50 meters or more, and at 2 miles on a vessel of 12 meters or more but less than 50, and at 2 miles on a vessel of less than 12 meters 33 CFR §83.22. The International ranges for all-round lights are the same three figures COLREGs Rule 22, so a question on the visibility of a fishing vessel's all-round lights has the same answer whichever regime it is labelled for.

Vertical spacing is Annex I material and lightly tested. Two lights in a vertical line are spaced not less than 1 meter apart, with the lowest at not less than 4 meters above the hull on a vessel of 20 meters or more, and not less than 2 meters above the gunwale on a vessel of less than 20 meters 33 CFR §84.02. The lower of the two all-round fishing lights sits above the sidelights by not less than twice the distance between the two vertical lights.

At 0200 you sight two all-round lights in a vertical line, green over white, and no other lights at all. What is she doing?

Trawling, and not making way through the water. Sidelights and a sternlight are added only when making way, so their absence is the finding. She is under 50 meters, or she is 50 meters or more and you are outside the 225° arc of her masthead light — the display alone does not settle her length.

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Telling it apart

The separating criterion between the two displays is a single question: is the gear being dragged through the water?

• Trawling — dragging a dredge net or other apparatus as a fishing appliance. Green over white. A masthead light abaft of and higher than the green, obligatory at 50 meters or more, optional below that.
• Fishing other than trawling — red over white. No masthead light. Gets the extra all-round white light or apex-up cone toward gear extending more than 150 meters horizontally.
• Making way against underway — the all-round pair is on in both conditions; sidelights and a sternlight distinguish making way from stopped. The pair never comes off.
• Not engaged in fishing — shows the lights prescribed for a vessel of her length and none of the Rule 26 display.

The additional signals for vessels fishing in close proximity are a separate set again, and they are optional in the Inland text: vessels engaged in trawling may exhibit two white lights in a vertical line when shooting their nets, one white over one red when hauling, and two red when a net has come fast upon an obstruction. Purse seiners may exhibit two yellow lights in a vertical line, flashing alternately every second with equal light and occultation, and only when the vessel is hampered by its fishing gear. These close-proximity lights are carried at least 0.9 meters apart, below the lights prescribed by the rule, and visible all round the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile.

The paragraphs quoted above from §83.26(c) through (f) are the Inland text, which is what the supplied authority establishes. Paragraphs (a) and (b) — the "only" clause, the trawling definition, green over white, the masthead light and the making-way trigger — are word-for-word the same under both regimes.

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Working a question

At 0330, twelve miles south of Montauk, you are on a 78-foot uninspected passenger vessel making 9 knots. Fine on your port bow you observe an all-round green light directly above an all-round white light, a white light abaft of and higher than the green, and a green sidelight. Nothing else.

1. Two all-round lights, vertically, one above the other. That configuration is prescribed by Rule 26, so she is engaged in fishing, and the "only" clause tells you she is showing nothing from any other rule.
2. Upper light is green. Green over white is trawling. She is dragging gear.
3. White light abaft of and higher than the green. That is the trawler's masthead light. She is either 50 meters or more, or under 50 meters and exercising the option — the light alone does not decide it, so reject any answer choice that asserts her length from this.
4. A green sidelight is showing. Sidelights appear only when making way, so she is making way through the water, and green means you are looking at her starboard side.
5. No all-round white light offset to one side. The gear-direction light belongs to a vessel fishing other than by trawling, so its absence here is expected and carries no information.
6. The answer. A trawler, making way, presenting her starboard side. She is not at anchor, she is not stopped, and she is not fishing by any method other than trawling.

Step 3 is where the option list usually bites. A candidate who has learned "masthead light means 50 meters or more" will pick the length statement; the rule makes that light permissive below 50 meters, which turns a positive identification into an inconclusive one.

Same scene, but the upper all-round light is red and there is an additional all-round white light offset to starboard of the pair. What have you got?

A vessel engaged in fishing other than trawling, with outlying gear extending more than 150 meters horizontally, and the gear lies in the direction of that offset white light — to her starboard side. Give that side a wide berth. No masthead light is expected on this vessel at any length.

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Where candidates lose the point

Reversing the colours. The distractor pairs red-over-white with trawling because red feels like the more restrictive signal and trawling feels like the more restrictive operation. The rule assigns green to the trawler. Fix it with the rhyme and stop reasoning about it.

Adding sidelights to a stopped fishing vessel. A candidate reads "underway" in paragraph (a) and supplies sidelights and a sternlight to complete a familiar-looking display. Those two are added only when making way through the water; a vessel underway but stopped with her gear out shows the all-round pair alone.

Expecting a masthead light on the red-over-white vessel. Rule 26 mentions a masthead light in the trawling paragraph and nowhere else. Any answer that puts a masthead light on a vessel fishing other than by trawling is out.

Giving a fishing vessel anchor lights. She anchors, so the anchor display seems to follow. Paragraph (a) covers her whether underway or at anchor and permits only the Rule 26 lights and shapes.

Flipping shooting and hauling. Two white is shooting the nets; white over red is hauling. Two red is a net fast on an obstruction, which candidates sometimes assign to hauling because both feel like trouble.

Treating the trawler's masthead light as a Rule 23 display. A power-driven vessel underway shows a masthead light forward, sidelights and a sternlight, with a second masthead light abaft of and higher than the forward one COLREGs Rule 23. The trawler's single masthead light is positioned by reference to her all-round green light, not as the forward light of a Rule 23 display.

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Check yourself

You are inbound at night and see two all-round lights in a vertical line, red over white, plus a white sternlight. What is the vessel doing, and what may you deduce about her length?

Engaged in fishing by a method other than trawling, and making way through the water — the sternlight is the making-way indicator. Nothing at all may be deduced about her length. The rule prescribes no masthead light for this vessel, so its absence is not evidence of anything.

A vessel is engaged in fishing and comes to anchor for the night with her gear still deployed. What does she exhibit?

The lights and shapes prescribed by Rule 26 and nothing else. Paragraph (a) applies whether underway or at anchor, and the word "only" excludes any other display.

You are trawling in a 44-metre dragger, making way. Which of your lights are optional?

The masthead light abaft of and higher than the all-round green. Below 50 meters you are not obliged to carry it but may do so. The green over white pair, sidelights and sternlight are all required in this condition.

A vessel fishing with lines has gear streaming 200 metres to port. What must she show, and where?

An all-round white light, or by day a cone apex upward, in the direction of the gear — to port. It goes not less than 2 and not more than 6 metres horizontally from the red and white pair, no higher than the all-round white light and no lower than the sidelights.

You see two white all-round lights in a vertical line, carried below a green-over-white pair, on a vessel in a fleet of trawlers. What is she signalling?

Shooting her nets. It is one of the additional signals for fishing vessels in close proximity, carried at least 0.9 metres apart and below the lights prescribed by the rule, visible all round the horizon for at least 1 mile.

A 30-metre vessel exhibits red over white all-round lights while proceeding to the grounds with all gear stowed. Is she correctly lit?

No. A vessel not engaged in fishing shall not exhibit these lights and shall show only those prescribed for a vessel of her length.

The question is labelled "(Both International & Inland)" and asks the minimum visibility of the all-round green light on a 60-metre trawler. Your answer?

3 miles. A white, red, green or yellow all-round light on a vessel of 50 meters or more must be visible at 3 miles, and the figure is the same in both regimes, so the label carries no trap.