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)
“[As teenager], the trauma of near-misses and almost- consequences usually brings us to our senses. We finally come down someplace between our parents’ safety advice, which underestimates our ability, and our own unreasonable disregard for safety, which is our childlike wish for invulnerability. Our definition of acceptable risk becomes a product of our own experience.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)
“Forced from home, and all its pleasures,
Afric’s coast I left forlorn;
To increase a stranger’s treasures,
O’er the raging billows borne.
Men from England bought and sold me,
Paid my price in paltry gold;
But, though theirs they have enroll’d me,
Minds are never to be sold.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)
“Although adults have a role to play in teaching social skills to children, it is often best that they play it unobtrusively. In particular, adults must guard against embarrassing unskilled children by correcting them too publicly and against labeling children as shy in ways that may lead the children to see themselves in just that way.”
—Zick Rubin (20th century)