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Abstract
Correctly comprehending and applying the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs) remains genuinely difficult for maritime professionals worldwide, yet no published study has evaluated how second-year students' profile, study habits, and instructor qualifications relate to COLREGs comprehension and application within simulated navigational training. This study determined the extent of COLREGs comprehension and application among second-year Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation students at the Merchant Marine Academy of Caraga, Incorporated (MMACI), and established whether student profile, study habits, and student-instructor perceptual alignment related meaningfully to these outcomes. The study employed a quantitative descriptive-correlational design. Respondents were 71 participants (70 students, proportionally sampled from 139 across four sections, and one instructor), surveyed using a three-part questionnaire adapted from validated instruments and analyzed using frequency and percentage distributions, weighted means, chi-square, and one-way analysis of variance. Students strongly agreed that instruction supported COLREGs comprehension (weighted mean = 3.53) and application (3.51), rating simulated exercises highest but allotted practice time and anchorage-area scenarios lowest. Student profile (sex, academic performance) showed no significant relationship with study habits (all p > 0.05), and no significant difference emerged between students' and their instructor's perceived comprehension and application (F = 1.020, p = 0.316). These findings indicate that MMACI's simulation-based COLREGs training is generally effective and consistently calibrated between students and instructor, but that practice time and less commonly rehearsed scenarios represent specific, actionable targets for a proposed sustainability program to reinforce experiential learning.