Avast!

sir – I have viewed on television and read in the press about collisions between US warships and merchant vessels (report, August 22).

The golden rule is to give way to a vessel on your starboard bow if any crossing course is involved. Never try to cut across another vessel’s bow. If this was the case with the latest collision, it was bad seamanship.

I am aware that a destroyer is far more manoeuvrable than most merchant ships but the collision regulations apply to all vessels – warships or merchant ships.

As a retired Merchant Navy master I have seen hundreds of situations at sea involving crossing, meeting head-on or overtaking. I’ve formed an opinion that for some reason a naval vessel, British or American, seems to think it has more right of way than you.

A merchant ship has two or three on the bridge, but a naval vessel half a dozen. These officers would benefit from a trip or two on a big tanker to see how the other half work. Ian Kemp

Leigh-on-sea, Essex