|| Starpath online classroom || Glossary || Glossary Index || Home ||

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

in extremis in extremis means generally in an extremely difficult situation. Medically it means on the verge of death. In collision law it means that you are in a situation beyond control on some level. For example, you could be so close to another vessel that was supposed to give way that did not, and in your judgement the only way to save the day is for you to maneuver on your own, even though the rules called for holding course and speed. you are then said to be in extremis. This is implied in Rule 17b, but it applies any time the situation is such that you must maneuver to avoid a collision when you are the stand-on vessel. it could happen when someone was overtaking you. In short, there is no situation at all in the rules that gives you the right to carry on when you could prevent a collision by your maneuver alone... and this remains true even if the other vessel has violated several rules on the way to getting to this situation. More generally, whenever two vessels are so close that collision cannot be avoided without the action of both of them, the situation is called in extremis. (When looking this up in reference books, look under i, not e. There are many court cases related to this condition.) The Rules are supposed to prevent vessels getting this close, so whenever this happens both vessels will get some share of the liability.

[close window]