Marine Safety Under The Coast Guard
The Marine Safety program is still administered by the Coast Guard, an agency later under the control of the United States Department of Transportation and now under the control of the United States Department of Homeland Security. In an attempt to promote better service to the maritime industry as well as the general public, the marine inspection and Captain of the Port/port safety functions were combined. The marine inspectors of the Coast Guard come from varying backgrounds and careers. Among the officers in the program, some are graduates of the United States Coast Guard Academy, some are graduates of the various maritime academies, and some are prior civilians that attended Officer Candidate School. Many of the officers in this field, including all of the Chief Warrant Officers in the field, are prior-enlisted Coast Guardsmen who have progressed through the enlisted ranks and earned commissions.
Due to an increase in small boat accidents, the Small Passenger Vessel Act of May 10, 1956, was passed into law. The requirements of this act became effective on June 1, 1958, and provided that all vessels, regardless of size or propulsion, carrying more than six passengers for hire, be inspected by a Marine Inspector of the Coast Guard, and meet associated safety requirements. These requirements not only cover life saving and fire fighting equipment, but also machinery and electrical installations, hull strength and stability considerations. This law required that operators be licensed by the Coast Guard and minimum manning requirements be met. Additionally, the route or routes on which the vessel may operate and the maximum number of passengers that may be carried are established by the Coast Guard.
Read more about this topic: Steamboat Inspection Service
Famous quotes containing the words marine, safety, coast and/or guard:
“God has a hard-on for a Marine because we kill everything we see. He plays His game, we play ours.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“Love no man in good earnest, nor no further in sport
neither, than with safety of a pure blush thou mayst in
honor come off again.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The Boston papers had never told me that there were seals in the harbor. I had always associated these with the Esquimaux and other outlandish people. Yet from the parlor windows all along the coast you may see families of them sporting on the flats. They were as strange to me as the merman would be. Ladies who never walk in the woods, sail over the sea. To go to sea! Why, it is to have the experience of Noah,—to realize the deluge. Every vessel is an ark.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 21:34.35.