Rule 33 — Equipment for sound signals

(a) A vessel of 12 metres or more in length shall be provided with a whistle, a vessel of 20 metres or more in length shall be provided with a bell in addition to a whistle, and a vessel of 100 metres or more in length shall, in addition, be provided with a gong, the tone and sound of which cannot be confused with that of the bell. The whistle, bell and gong shall comply with the specifications in Annex III to these Regulations. The bell or gong or both may be replaced by other equipment having the same respective sound characteristics, provided that manual sounding of the prescribed signals shall always be possible.

(b) A vessel of less than 12 metres in length shall not be obliged to carry the sound signalling appliances prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule but if she does not, she shall be provided with some other means of making an efficient sound signal.

MSN 1781 (M+F): Rules text stated on the document as amended through IMO Res A.910(22); read with MSN 1781 (M+F) Amendment 3 (21 Nov 2023, current — replaces Amendment 2; scope-only change for the Merchant Shipping (Watercraft) Order 2023). Per Amendment 2 Appendix 2, the only later wording changes are Annex IV (A.1004(25)) and new Part F Rules 39-41 (A.1085(28)).

Contains public sector information reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: MSN 1781.

Independent preparatory study aligned to the MCA OOW (Yachts <3000 GT) oral examination syllabus. Not an MCA-approved course and confers no credit toward a Certificate of Competency.