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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 9
May 2008
Coast Guard considering new stability regs
WASHINGTON, DC – On March 31, the Coast Guard published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Federal Register to let the public know it is seriously considering making significant changes to its commercial fishing vessel safety regulations.
The proposed changes involve new requirements for: vessel stability and watertight integrity; stability training and assessments; vessel maintenance and examinations; immersion/survival suits; crew preparedness; safety equipment; and documentation.
The Coast Guard has attempted to make similar significant changes several times since the early 1990s with only limited results due to industry opposition and time-consuming and expensive bureaucratic review processes. This time, however, there appears to be a strong commitment to getting the job done.
“Publication of the ANPR shows we’re very serious about this,” said Mike Rosecrans, chief of the Coast Guard’s Fishing Vessel Safety Division. “We want to fix some problems that we now know how to fix. If we can stop vessel loss, we can have an impact on saving lives.”
Rosecrans also emphasized that the Coast Guard wants to hear commercial fishermen’s thoughts on the proposed changes.
“We are encouraging people to comment. I will be reading every letter that comes across my desk,” he said.
The public comment deadline is July 29.
Two studies
The Coast Guard is basing its proposals on two studies that it believes indicate the need for further regulatory action. The first is “Living to Fish, Dying to Fish,” the name of the report generated by the Fishing Vessel Casualty Task Force, which was appointed by the Coast Guard following the loss of 11 commercial fishermen in January of 1999.
Ten of those deaths happened as the result of three surf clam/ocean quahog boats sinking off Massachusetts and New Jersey – the Beth-Dee-Bob, Cape Fear, and Adriatic.
The second study was compiled by the Coast Guard and is titled “Analysis of Fishing Vessel Casualties: A review of lost fishing vessels and crew fatalities, 1994-2004.”
That analysis showed that, nationwide, 1,398 vessels were lost during the 10-year period, with 641 fatalities. The top three causes of vessel loss were: grounding, 236 vessels lost; capsizing, 142; and collision, 55.
According to the Federal Register notice, the top three causes of fatalities associated with those losses were: vessel flooding, sinking, capsizing, 328 deaths; man overboard, 154; and man pulled overboard by gear, 29.
The Coast Guard noted that, in all, capsizing accounted for 142 vessels lost and capsizing/sudden sinkings caused 115 deaths.
“These statistics explain why the Coast Guard continues to be concerned with stability and watertight integrity issues within the commercial fishing industry,” the Coast Guard said.
The Federal Register notice also points out that the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Advisory Committee recommended years ago that Congress “mandate vessel inspections and licensing of mariners.”
The Coast Guard also has asked for additional authority to reclassify commercial fishing vessels as inspected vessels in order to apply design and construction standards, as well as mandatory inspections and licensing requirements.
While Congress has not yet granted this authority, the US House version of a Coast Guard authorization bill now under consideration does contain some of this authority, according to Rosecrans.
Proposals
Among the major new fishing vessel stability, watertight integrity, and safety proposals the Coast Guard is considering are the following:
Establishing stability requirements for vessels 50'-79';
Requiring stability training for masters and owners of vessels greater than 30';
Setting minimum criteria for stability training and training instructors;
Repeating lightweight surveys and, in some cases, inclining tests, and updating vessel stability instructions at least once every five years;
Upgrading and highlighting weathertight and watertight integrity measures to prevent unintentional flooding;
Emphasizing the responsibility of owners and masters for vessel stability;
Requiring vessel owners to notify the Coast Guard before they undertake any substantial vessel alteration or major conversion, “recognizing that many stability and watertight integrity improvements can be made economically only during original construction or during a major modification;” and
Expanding survival suit requirements to mandate them for each crewman whenever a vessel operates in “seasonally cold waters.”
In its discussion of these proposals, the Coast Guard explained that vessels over 79' in length are already required to comply with stability and watertight integrity standards. Further, it is recommending applying those kinds of requirements only to vessels 50'-79' in length – rather than to smaller vessels – because standards for midsized vessels have already been figured out.
“Vessels of less than 50' in length might also benefit from such standards. But because standards for those vessels have not yet been designed, we are considering only 50'-79' vessels at this time,” the Coast Guard said.
Training for 30'-plus
The Coast Guard has come to believe that there is a significant lack of understanding among fishermen of the basic principles of stability and watertight integrity. So, it is considering requiring stability training for owners and masters of vessels 30' and up.
“We believe the 30' threshold covers all those vessels that are likely to operate in conditions where such training can be a critical safety factor,” the Coast Guard said.
The proposed training would cover: general principles of stability; risk factors specific to the region or fishery in which the vessel is engaged; and vessel-specific training.
The Federal Register notice cited the December 2004 sinking of the New Bedford-based Northern Edge in explaining the need for this kind of training.
It noted that the fishermen on the vessel had blocked the freeing ports, a standard practice when dumping scallops on deck. But then, “in an instant,” the vessel took water on deck that could not drain back out to sea. Instead, it flowed through a weathertight door that had been left open, setting in motion the progressive flooding that led to the sudden capsize of the vessel and the loss of five men.
“Stability training would be intended to raise the situational awareness of masters,” the Coast Guard said.
Reassessment
The Coast Guard is considering requiring vessel owners to conduct lightweight and possibly inclining surveys periodically in order to account for changes in a vessel’s weight over time.
“Unfortunately, most vessels do not have a weight management system to account for the many large and small changes that occur. Therefore, as a vessel ages, the margin of safety degenerates and a stability reassessment is needed,” the agency said.
Specifically, the Coast Guard is considering requiring such stability reviews once every five years. If changes in weight could be accurately accounted for in this way, then the lightweight survey would be sufficient for updating the vessel’s stability instructions. If not, an inclining test could be required to determine the location of the vessel’s lightweight and center of gravity.
Safety equipment
The Coast Guard is considering expanding safety equipment requirements – EPIRBS, survival craft, high water alarms, and more – to all vessels.
As an example, it is considering requiring fishermen to document that they have registered their EPIRB with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It also is considering requiring all survival craft to be easily accessible and launchable by a single crewmember.
Questions, comments
In its request for comments on these and a number of other proposals, the Coast Guard asked fishermen to consider a long list of questions, including the following.
“Given the statistics on vessel losses … what issues related to stability and watertight integrity should the Coast Guard consider addressing in regulations?”
What steps should the Coast Guard take to reduce vessel flooding losses and fatalities?
What routine measures do you use to prevent unintentional flooding?
How often is your vessel examined by a marine surveyor and under what circumstances?
What should the Coast Guard do to reduce the number of fire-related vessel losses?
What do you do to limit the danger of fire and vessel losses related to collisions and groundings, and how should the Coast Guard address these concerns?
What impact has crew drills had in improving fishing vessel safety, and what recommendations do you have concerning drills and safety training?
What size vessels should be required to adhere to stability standards, and what should those standards be?
What do you do on board your vessel to identify and minimize safety risks? And
What would be the economic cost to you, as a small business, of each of the requirements now under consideration by the Coast Guard?
The Coast Guard hopes to hold at least some meetings to gather public comment on the proposals detailed in the Federal Register notice, though no dates or locations have yet been announced.
In the meantime, Rosecrans is urging fishermen to send in their comments by any one of the following means.
Go online to <www.regulations.gov>, search for “fishing vessel stability” under key word search, and leave your comments. This approach also provides you with a version of the March 31 Federal Register notice that you can easily download.
Comments also may be faxed to (202) 493-2251 or mailed to: Docket Management Facility (M-30), US Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590.
For more information, call Mike Rosecrans at (202) 372-1245 or e-mail him at <Michael.m.rosecrans@uscg.mil>.
Lorelei Stevens
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