It is doubtful if at any period in the history of seafaring a greater effort has been made to organize the safe conduct of ships about the seas than that which is being made today, and it is equally doubtful if the need was ever more urgent. At the present time a large amount of thought and work is being put into the task of trying to formulate rules and systems aimed at providing for the safer navigation of vessels at sea. Excellent ideas have been proposed for conduct in traffic, such as those put forward by Dr. Calvert, Admiral García-Frías and many others, which, together with the systems of traffic separation which have been established in areas of heavy shipping concentrations, could bring about a decrease in the present rate of marine casualties.