U.S. COAST GUARD CHANGES NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR VESSELS
The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it is changing its notification of arrival and departure requirements for vessels bound for or departing from the United States.
“This rule permanently changes the notice of arrival requirement in 33 CFR part 160, replacing the temporary rule that has been in place since Oct. 4, 2001,” the Coast Guard said.
The newly revised rule, effective April 1, “consolidates the Notice of Departure into the Notice of Arrival; requires electronic submission of cargo manifest information to the U.S. Customs Service, and requires additional crew and passenger information,” the Coast Guard explained.
The Coast Guard, responding to industry comments, has agreed to exempt from notice of arrival requirements all towing vessels and barges that are in domestic service and not carrying what the Coast Guard calls “CDC” or “certain dangerous cargoes.”
The Coast Guard refused to exempt mobile offshore drilling units moving between operating locations. It will continue to exempt supply vessels employed in continental shelf resource exploration or extraction, and it will allow a local Coast Guard office to waive notification filing requirements for fish tenders “operating in remote regions of Alaska.”
The Coast Guard said, “all vessels are exempt when operating on the Mississippi River above mile 235.” U.S.-flag vessels, excepting tankers, operating solely between U.S. ports on the Great Lakes are also exempt from reporting.
Responding to criticism that reporting requirements for crewmembers were excessive and unjustified, the Coast Guard said it “recognizes the fact that crewmembers may change positions frequently. We’ve added a provision stating that a notice of change need not be submitted when a change occurs to a crewmember’s position or duty on the vessel.”
Several comments questioned the need for requiring the last five ports of call from all vessels. “We agree that vessels operating solely between ports or places in the continental U.S. should only be required to provide their destinations and last port of call. Vessels that have arrived from, or have stopped in foreign ports, however, are required to provide their last five ports of call,” the Coast Guard said.
The full text of the revised notification of arrival and departure requirements may be accessed on the Web at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/pdf/03-4408.pdf. For more information, contact Lt. Kimberly Andersen at (202) 267-2562.