Navigating U. S. Arrival: A Guide for Vessels on Port Entry and Inspections on Arrival( continued from page 16)
Whether an occurrence or other situation qualifies as a reportable marine casualty and / or a hazardous condition is a fact-specific determination that depends on the nature and severity of the event, the vessel’ s location, prevailing conditions, surrounding circumstances, and other relevant factors. prior to getting underway. In practical terms this includes, among other things, testing and / or inspection of: primary and secondary steering gear; certain internal vessel control communications; standby or emergency generator; storage batteries for emergency lighting; and main propulsion machinery, ahead and astern.
There are also requirements for reporting any non-operational equipment under 33 C. F. R. § 164, such as radar and other essential bridge equipment. Additional operational requirements are set out in 33 C. F. R. § 164.11 for all vessels and 33 C. F. R. § 164.13 for tankers. To help ensure compliance, vessel owners and operators should review 33 C. F. R. § 164, in its entirety, to ensure its requirements are reflected in the vessel’ s safety management system(“ SMS”) and other operational procedures.
Marine Casualty and Hazardous Condition Reporting. Foreign-flag vessels operating in U. S. navigable waters( i. e., within 12 nautical miles from the U. S. coastline) must promptly notify the USCG of a reportable marine casualty, as defined in 46 C. F. R. § 4.05-1( a). 1
Additionally, whenever a“ hazardous condition” 2 is identified on board a vessel or is caused by a vessel or its operation, a report must immediately be made to the USCG. Of note, this requirement applies to all foreign-flag and U. S.-flag vessels that are bound for or departing from ports or places within the navigable waters of the United States.
The USCG has issued guidance on marine casualty and hazardous condition reporting requirements in its Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular 01-15, dated July 21, 2015. Since reports must generally be made“ immediately,” incidents should be reported as soon as possible, along with identification of any necessary response actions being undertaken by the vessel to address the situation. Penalties can be significant for failure to report in a timely manner.
A prompt oral or written report to the USCG immediately following an incident typically fulfills the regulatory requirements for marine casualty and hazardous condition reporting. In the event of a reportable“ marine casualty,” the regulation also mandates the submission of CG Form 2692 within five days, which provides the USCG with more detail on the incident.
Failure to report a marine casualty, as required by 46 C. F. R. § 4.05-1( a), can result in civil penalties for both individuals and corporate vessel owners and operators. Failure to report a“ hazardous condition” under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act regulations, and violations of other regulations contained in 33 CFR Subchapter P, can result in both civil and criminal penalties. In recent years, the USCG and the U. S. Department of Justice have been aggressively enforcing, civilly and criminally, the failure to report a hazardous condition.
Cargo Declarations. Cargo declarations for containers destined for the United States must be submitted to CBP through its Automated Manifest System(“ AMS”) at least 24 hours before loading in a foreign port. A container stow plan must be submitted no later than 48 hours after the vessel departs the last foreign port. Break bulk carriers are also subject to a pre-loading cargo declaration requirement but may apply to CBP for an exemption. Exempt break bulk carriers and carriers of bulk cargo must provide an electronic manifest 24 hours prior to the vessel’ s arrival.
1
Marine casualty reporting requirements apply to U. S.-flag vessels wherever located. In addition, foreign-flag tank vessels must also report certain types of marine casualties when they occur outside of 12 nautical miles but within the U. S. exclusive economic zone( i. e., between 12 nm and 200 nm from the coastline) or other waters subject to U. S. jurisdiction, as set out in 46 C. F. R. § 4.05-2( b).
2
A“ hazardous condition” is defined as“ any condition that may adversely affect the safety of any vessel, bridge, structure, or shore area or the environmental quality of any port, harbor, or navigable waterway of the United States. It may, but need not, involve collision, allision, fire, explosion, grounding, leaking, damage, cyber incident, injury or illness of a person aboard, or manning-shortage.” 33 C. F. R. § 160.202.
17 • MAINBRACE