Maritime Master COLREGs: A Study App for the Rules of the Road
- Reece Smith-ward
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, better known as the COLREGs or the rules of the road, sit at the heart of every deck qualification. Learning them means more than skimming a list. You need to understand what each rule says, why it exists, and how the rules fit together. Maritime Master COLREGs is a study app built to help you do exactly that on your iPhone or iPad.
It breaks every rule into plain English, backs that up with the convention wording, and reinforces your reading with interactive tools and quizzes. It is a one-time purchase, works offline, and asks for no account. Here is a closer look at what is inside.
All rules and annexes
The app covers all Rules 1 to 38 and Annexes I to IV, organised into clear sections that follow the shape of the regulations: situation awareness, channels and traffic, conduct of vessels, lights and shapes, and exemptions. That structure helps you find what you need and study a topic at a time rather than wading through the text from front to back. A search feature runs across every rule, so a keyword takes you straight to the passage you want.
Plain English, official wording
Each rule pairs a plain English summary with the rule wording itself. The summary helps the meaning land quickly, while the wording keeps you close to the source you are expected to know. Reading the two side by side is a natural way to build both understanding and recall.
Interactive study tools
Beyond the text, the app gives you several ways to test and reinforce what you have read. Flip cards surface the key takeaways from each rule, risk of collision cards focus on that crucial judgement, and traffic separation scheme breakdowns unpack how those schemes work. Scenario diagrams and embedded knowledge checks let you apply a rule to a situation rather than simply memorise it.
Lights and shapes
A night lights view renders the light and day shape patterns described in Rules 23 to 31, covering the vessels and states those rules address. Seeing the patterns rather than only reading about them makes the differences easier to hold in memory when you come to revise them. It is a study visual to support your reading, not a stand-in for the official plates.
Quizzes and flashcards
Quizzes and flashcards round out the study loop. They give you a quick way to check what has stuck and to spot the rules that need another look. Because they sit alongside the reference material, moving between revising a rule and testing yourself on it takes only a moment.
Made for everyday revision
The app is designed to fit around how you actually study. You can switch languages in-app, share clean watermarked captures of a rule page for your own notes, and work through everything offline with no signal required. There is no account to create and no tracking, so you can simply open it and get on with revising.
For study, not navigation
Maritime Master COLREGs is for training and study only; always refer to official publications for real-world navigation. It is a learning and revision aid, not a substitute for approved training or the official regulations that govern decisions at sea. Use it to build your knowledge, and rely on the current official publications whenever you are actually navigating.
