Annex II — Fishing in close proximity
Rule 26 tells you a vessel is fishing. Annex II, which Rule 26(d) applies to vessels fishing in close proximity to one another, lets her say what she is doing with her gear. Every signal in it, which vessels must and which may show them, how they sit with the Rule 26 lights, and the ones easiest to misread on watch.
It has three sections. Section 1 says where the lights go and how far they are seen. Section 2 sets the signals for trawlers. Section 3 sets a signal for purse seiners.
Rule 26(d) says when they apply: the additional signals in Annex II apply to a vessel engaged in fishing 'in close proximity to other vessels engaged in fishing'.
Section 1: where they can best be seen, at least 0.9 metre apart, and lower than the all-round lights of Rule 26(b)(i) and (c)(i) — a trawler's green over white, or another fishing vessel's red over white.
They are visible all round the horizon at a distance of 'at least one mile', but at a lesser distance than the lights the rules prescribe for fishing vessels. In practice, that means you may pick up her fishing lights well before the Annex II lights below them.
It depends on the vessel, and the annex's own words matter. A trawler of 20 metres or more 'shall exhibit' the trawling signals (section 2(a)), and so shall each vessel of 20 metres or more in pair trawling (2(b)). A trawler of less than 20 metres 'may' show them (2(c)). A purse seiner 'may' show her signal (section 3).
All of it applies only where Rule 26(d) does — to vessels fishing in close proximity to other vessels engaged in fishing.
Section 2(a), for a vessel of 20 metres or more engaged in trawling, with demersal or pelagic gear — that is, on or near the seabed or in midwater. Each signal is two lights in a vertical line:
Shooting her nets: two white lights.
Hauling her nets: one white light over one red light.
Net fast upon an obstruction: two red lights.
Section 2(b): each vessel of 20 metres or more in the pair shows, by night, a searchlight directed forward and in the direction of the other vessel of the pair. When shooting or hauling, or when the nets are fast on an obstruction, she also shows the section 2(a) lights for that stage.
A trawler of less than 20 metres, single or pair trawling, may show the section 2(a) or 2(b) signals, as appropriate (2(c)).
Putting Annex II together with Rule 26(b): a trawler shows two all-round lights, green over white, and when making way through the water, sidelights and a sternlight. A trawler of 50 metres or more also shows a masthead light abaft of and higher than the green light; under 50 metres she may. The Annex II pair goes below the green over white.
So a trawler hauling her nets shows, below her green over white, a white light over a red one; one with her net fast shows two reds below them.
Section 3: two yellow lights in a vertical line, flashing alternately every second, with light and darkness of equal length. She may show them only when 'hampered by its fishing gear'.
As we read it, a purse seiner is fishing other than trawling, so the yellow lights go with her Rule 26(c) lights: red over white all round, and sidelights and a sternlight when making way.
Two of them could, taken on their own. Two all-round red lights in a vertical line is the not-under-command signal (Rule 27(a)(i)). White over red is the pilot vessel's signal, carried at or near the masthead (Rule 29(a)(i)).
In practice, the giveaway is what is above them. A trawler's Annex II lights sit below her green over white, so a trawler with her net fast is telling you about her gear, not showing the Rule 27 signal — though with her net fast on an obstruction she is in no position to manoeuvre freely, so give her a wide berth.
No — the annex sets signals only. Rule 18 still applies: except where Rules 9, 10 and 13 otherwise require, a power-driven vessel underway and a sailing vessel underway keep out of the way of a vessel engaged in fishing. The Annex II lights tell you more about what she is doing. In our view the one to note is the pair trawlers' searchlight: it shines forward and towards the other vessel of the pair, and their warps and shared net lie between and astern of them — so never pass between the two.
It may come up as a set of lights to identify, among other fishing vessels. Examples of the kind of question to be ready for:
“Below a green over white you see two white lights in a vertical line. What is she doing?”
“What does a white light over a red light below a trawler's green over white mean?”
“You see two red lights in a vertical line below a green over white. Is she not under command?”
“What may a purse seiner show, and when?”
“Must a 15-metre trawler show the Annex II signals?”
The common slips: reading a trawler's two reds as not under command, or her white over red as a pilot; saying all the signals are optional when a trawler of 20 metres or more 'shall' show them; forgetting that they apply only to vessels fishing in close proximity; and missing that the purse seiner's yellow lights are shown only when she is hampered by her gear.
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