Question 885 Rules of the Road

The correct answer is C) Sound five or more short rapid blasts. This is the correct action because according to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), when a vessel is overtaking another vessel, the overtaking vessel must indicate its intention to do so by sounding the appropriate whistle signal. If the vessel being overtaken (vessel A) feels it is not safe for the overtaking vessel (vessel B) to proceed, vessel A should sound five or more short rapid blasts on the whistle to indicate that it is unsafe to overtake at the present time. The other options are incorrect because option A would be the wrong signal, option B would be ignoring the overtaking vessel's signal, and option D would be the wrong number of blasts.