I spent years at sea as an Officer of the Watch in the Royal Navy - during that time I spoke to quite a few other watchkeepers from around the world. The attitude I encountered was always one of terror of getting it wrong rather than machismo.

I can see how in ambiguous scenarios with large cargo vessels this could lead to a collision. In a relatively nimble destroyer I'm very confident this wasn't a simple case of "I'm the stand on vessel, I won't move."