This paper reports on the outcomes of recent research carried out on the use and application of collision regulations and the impact of the recent changes on collisions at sea. The collective analysis of collisions at sea has been a long standing practice but in some instances the collision and presentation of the statistics have been made to some extent to comply with so called “an act of parliament” rather than to provide information to prevent further collisions.

A recent study of the existing 1972 collision rules, based on the research project of ACTs, (Avoiding Collisions At Sea) revealed some nteresting outcomes and endeavoured to predict the impact of such collision rules. A great deal of emphasis was placed on the role of human error for the cause of accidents at sea. Some statistical evidence also shows human error causes most accidents. The IMO MSC (Ziarati, 2006) clearly indicates that the causes of many of the accidents at sea are due to deficiencies in maritime education and training of seafarers or disregard for current standards and regulations. Ziarati (2007), reports that most common accidents and incidents at sea are due to collisions. Several of Ziarati’s recommendations have been led to the identification of skill gaps (www.maider.pro) and (www.maredu.co.uk).

Based on earlier research, a further in-depth research was carried out on European funded project, ACTs to find the main causes of collisions at sea. ACTs research findings revealed some interesting outcomes and endeavoured to predict the impact of such collision rules. The project’s research finding suggests there are inconsistencies in the level of navigators understanding and interpretation of COLREGs rules. The research evidence and a review of case studies considering real accident scenarios have identified the need for the development of new skills and development of an e-learning course.