The Safety of Life at Sea Conference, 1960, recognized the special danger of the concentration of maritime traffic in converging areas and entrusted shipping companies with the responsibility of establishing the channels to be followed in these areas. The three Institutes of Navigation may be helpful to the companies in this respect through the competence and prestige of their special working groups. The problem consists in defining one-way channels and cross-overs for different streams of traffic. In entrusting this responsibility to the companies, the London conference implicitly agreed that the organization of converging areas was a simple application of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea to the particular conditions of each area.

In converging areas ships will remain entirely and solely subject to the Collision Regulations. Agreements on the channels to be used will be covered by Rule 29 which refers to the ‘Ordinary Practice of Seamen’.