Book excerpt: The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS/IRPCS) are vital for maritime safety as you must be able to identify vessels during the day by their special shapes, and at night time by their lights, as well as understanding both your obligations and those of other vessels as you interact with one another. This new edition provides a clear and authoritative explanation of each regulation. Illustrations have been enhanced and it will help any seafarer understand their responsibilities, meaning that everybody at sea will be safer. Contents: • Foreword • Introduction • Who, Where, When? • Assessing the Risk • Narrow Channels and Separation Schemes • Who Gives Way? • Fog! • Lights and Shapes • Sound and Light Signals • The Small Print • Key Points In response to feedback, this new edition has been restructured to lead customers through the regulations by rule order, split into themes (i.e. restricted visibility) with a view to helping readers quickly reference the content. This book takes advantage of Google's accessibility features (https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6006564?hl=en-GB).