Are You Ready?
New Dockside Exam Requirements as of October 15, 2015
by Ann Backus, MS
Ann Backus, MS is an Instructor in Occupational Health at Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston MA 02115, 617/432-3327, abackus@hohp.harvard.edu
By the time you read this article, October 15, 2015 will be fast approaching. New Dockside Exam regulations that affect all commercial fishing vessels – state registered as well as federally documented vessels take effect on Oct 15. This is a major change. Previously many of the regulations only applied to federally documented vessels.
What is required and of whom?
A letter issued to the commercial fishing industry by the USCG dated August 18, 2015 (www.uscg.mil/d13/cfvs/PDFs/HQIndustrLtrAug 2015.pdf) outlines the new requirements as follows:
1) Requirement: All commercial fishing vessels whether state registered or federally documented that fish outside 3 nautical miles(NM) from shore OR carry more than 16 individuals on board regardless of where they operate, i.e., even if they don’t fish outside 3 NM MUST “successfully complete a dockside examination and be issued a new decal…no later than October 15, 2015.” Going forward, Dockside Exams will be required every five years.
2) Exception: If you successfully completed an examination after January 1, 2013, you will not have to have your next dockside exam until “five years from the date of the examination when the decal was issued.” But, the letter cautions, have the dockside exam well before the five years are up.
3) Arrangement: You may either ask for a fishing vessel safety examiner by contacting your USCG Sector, Marine Safety Unit or Field Office, by using the phone numbers provided below, or by going to www.fishsafe.info.
Preparing for a Dockside Exam
Given how many different variables are considered during a Dockside Exam, the USCG has created the US Coast Guard Web App: The Commercial Fishing Vessel Checklist Generator, a tool which very efficiently lets you know the regulations that apply your vessel and fishing operations. This web-based checklist can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/d13/cfvs/test/1ChecklistCover.html. You only need to enter the information about your vessel and fishing operations that the Checklist Generator requests and a Final Checklist Page is generated. When I entered a fictitious lobstering vessel, I received information in the following categories: a) Document, Placards and Plans, b) Bridge and Navigation Equipment, c) Life Saving Equipment, d) Fire Fighting Equipment, and e) Engine Room and Remaining Vessel Areas.
Each of the subcategories for the five categories listed above has an “info button” which when clicked takes you to applicable documents i.e., code of Federal Regulations, an additional specific checklist for that item, and in some cases voyage termination warnings. Some “info buttons” take you to a video, for example, the Category II 406 MHz EPIRB video shows how to inspect an EPIRB. From another you can find a 12 month interactive map of “cold water” designations. Once your final Checklist has been delivered, you can print it out and you can click to find the closest fishing vessel examiner office.
For those without internet access, please contact the dockside examiner for your area. The Dockside Exams are free.
Northern Maine: (207) 733-2054; Maine/New Hampshire: (207) 780-3256; Central Maine: (207) 664-3931; Newburyport to Manomet, MA; (617) 223-3045; Provincetown to Watch Hill, RI: (508) 991-6812; Cape Cod, MA: (508) 968-6551; Connecticut: (203) 468-4437; Long Island: (631) 732-0190; New York and Northern New Jersey: (718) 354-4100; First CG District Office Boston (617) 223-8440; First CG District Office Boston: (617)223-8315. These numbers are up-to-date as of Sept 21, 2015.
What is the authorization for the Dockside requirements?
The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 and the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2012 are responsible for the new dockside examination requirements. However, new requirements are also coming along for Survival Craft, Newly- Built Vessels, Load Lines, and an Alternative Safety Program. To see the Marine Safety Information Bulletin that discusses new requirements, please visit http://www.uscg.mil/d13/cfvs/PDFs/MSIB_CFVSReq.pdf.
Coming fast on the heels of the Dockside Examination requirement is the new requirement for survival craft which will apply to vessels fishing “beyond 3NM of the baseline”. Whereas previous survival craft would meet the requirements if they merely kept people together, even though those people were still in contact with the water, for example, in a mesh bottom liferaft, now the requirements stipulate “a survival craft that ensures that no part of an individual is immersed in water.” This “out of the water” requirement for survival craft, lifeboats, and inflatable buoyant apparatus goes into effect February 16, 2016- just three or so months from now.
Already in effect are requirements pertaining to newly-built vessels.
1) If your vessel is at least 50 feet overall in length and built after July 1, 2013 and you are operating beyond 3 NM of the baseline, your vessel must be“…designed, constructed, and maintained to the standards of a classification society.”
2) If your vessel is less than 50 feet overall in length and built after July 1, 2010 your vessel must meet “…a level of safety equivalent to the minimum safety standards established for recreational vessels.”
Please note: Overall in length is defined as “the horizontal distance of the hull between the foremost part of the bow and the aftermost part of the stern excluding fittings and attachments…”
Already in place since July 1, 2013 are load line requirements for vessels over 79 feet that fish beyond the 3NM. This new requirement may impact positively the understanding fishermen in the north Atlantic have about how ice accretion affects vessel stability and thereby help reduce the number of vessel casualties resulting from icing. Coming over the next several years, perhaps in 2020, are stipulations that will be worked out between the USCG and the fishing industry about Alternate Safety Programs for older vessels at least 50 feet in overall length and those that have undergone substantial changes.
Stay current with changes in the regulations and do schedule your Dockside Exam right away if you have not already done so.
Web sources used and quoted for this article include
http://www.uscg.mil/d13/cfvs/PDFs/HQIndustLtrAug2015.pdf (Commercial Fishing Industry letter August 18, 2015)