‘예인선열’과의 충돌사고 발생 시의 항법적용에 관한 연구 - 중앙해양안전심판원의 재결내용을 중심으로 -

Abstract

This study is about navigation application on the collision between towboat vessels and ships focused on the Korea maritime safety tribunal judgment. Firstly, it is correct that the maritime safety tribunal showed the judgment. Towboat vessels mean the entire fleets when a ship is dragging or pushing another ship. In Korea, the towboat vessels is navigating considerably in the actual situation of maritime traffic. In addition, there are many cases when the size of barges are often 10 times larger than towboats. It is not right to give a towboat vessels navigation priority as a control limited ship in the time of a collision between towboat vessels and a general ship. This is because the navigation regulations of the Maritime Safety Act and the COLREGs regulations are ineffective and harm the safety of maritime traffic. However, if the ships which both are incapable of escaping the course of another ship because it is engaged in towing work and are highly limited in its ability to escape from the course or which are strictly limited in behavior to the extent that it cannot escape from its course because of towing work, the towboat vessels should receive the given navigation priority as a control limited ship. But the standard of navigation priority needs to be interpreted strictly. And these standards can consult the standards of the Supreme Court case. These are as follows: The total length of the towboat vessels and the loading and weight of cargo on the barge, the lowering of the speed due to the towing, the size of the barge, the impossibility of diagonal turn due to the restriction of the use of the reverse engine of the towboat, the availability of navigable waters for turn, mandatory publication of lights and forms as an external indication of control limited ship. It should be interpreted strictly on the basis of these standards. However, in the narrow waterway, because most of the waterways have no navigable waters for turn so the towboat vessels are required to be recognized as control limited ship for navigation priority. In addition, the navigation priority of the towboat vessels as control limited ship will be considerably narrowed in terms of acknowledgment of the negligence of barges. Because barges are treated as independent ships by maritime law, owner of barge should take absolute negligence responsibility and a sailor of barges has a obligation of daily routine work of sailor as ship operator. In terms of legislation, there is a contradiction to the principle of clarity in the view of judging whether towboat vessels are control limited ship or not. Therefore, it is required to clarify and logically supplement the legislation by inserting the standard examples.