Every ship on the open ocean operates under the same basic traffic code, formally known as the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, or COLREGs, adopted under the International Maritime Organization framework and binding on essentially every seafaring nation, including both India and Pakistan.

The rules are not complicated in principle. Vessels must maintain safe speed for the conditions, keep a proper lookout by sight, sound and radar, and take early, substantial action to avoid a close-quarters situation rather than a last-second dodge.

When risk of collision exists, one vessel typically has a duty to give way while the other maintains course and speed. So both parties' actions remain predictable to each other.

Channel 16 on marine VHF radio exists specifically as the international distress and calling channel, used among other things to hail another vessel that appears to be closing in dangerously.

Also Read: Pakistan’s growing naval fleet, but who is protecting its citizens at sea?

Five short, rapid blasts on a ship's horn is the internationally recognised signal for "do not understand your intentions" or "danger of collision" -- a maritime equivalent........

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