Personally, I find both watch officers grossly at fault for this collision. First, the poor judgment from the Chief Officer on Seagate to believe he was being overtaken in a crossing situation, and worse to not monitor the situation closely, even after repeated warnings from his lookout. A combination of overconfidence and a breakdown in communication was the first error
Seagate and Timor Stream 8
in the Chief Mate’s error chain. The most fundamental navigation rule “constant bearing, decreasing range” was also present, and the Chief Officer was never aware to the fact. This demonstrates a lack of situational awareness by the Chief Officer, because if he would have ever paid slightly more attention to what was going on he would have seen that risk of collision existed.