COLREGs Rule 38: Exemptions

Rule 38 gives older vessels, whose keels were laid before the 1972 rules came into force in 1977, permanent or time-limited exemptions from some lighting and sound signal equipment requirements.

What Rule 38 says

1. Vessels that complied with the 1960 rules and whose keel was laid before the 1972 rules came into force may be exempted from some lighting requirements, such as the exact positioning of masthead lights and the colour specifications of lights.
2. Some exemptions were permanent and some ran for a set number of years after 1977; most time-limited ones have now expired.

This is a plain-English summary, not the official wording. For the exact text, see the IMO convention. In UK waters the rules are given legal force by the Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations.

What it means on a yacht

This has almost no practical effect today. Very old vessels may have slightly unusual light arrangements, which is one more reason to judge another vessel by everything you can see, not one light alone.

Practise it

Test yourself on who gives way in the free COLREGs trainer, or print the rules of the road cheat sheets for the chart table.