U.S. Coast Guard Revises Casualty Reporting Rules

The U.S. Coast Guard has published Navigation and Vessel Circular NVIC 01-15 to provide new guidance for the identification and reporting of marine casualties. 

Over the years, maritime industry stakeholders frequently noted that Coast Guard field commands had varying interpretations regarding what types of marine incidents should be reported and investigated under 46 CFR Part 4. To address the concerns, NVIC 01-15 clarifies terminology used in the reporting regulation, draws attention to additional regulatory citations related to reporting and provides detailed regulatory interpretations to assist in the marine casualty reporting and investigation process.

“I’m confident that promulgation of the NVIC will focus industry resources and Coast Guard investigative efforts on the higher priority investigations that lead to critical safety recommendations and alerts,” said Captain Jason Neubauer, chief of the Coast Guard’s Office of Investigation and Casualty Analysis.

A draft of the new NVIC was originally published for comment in the Federal Register in January 2014. The majority of the comments received from multiple industry segments and organizations made it clear that more detail was needed for specific types of marine casualties that had led to uncertainty in the past. As a result, several new definitions, interpretations, and common casualty scenarios were added to the updated NVIC.

“I would like to thank the leaders from the various companies, maritime organizations and Coast Guard field commands who provided the input that enabled us to improve and finalize this important guidance,” stated Rear Admiral Paul Thomas, assistant commandant for prevention policy.

The change means that, for example, vessels are excluded from the requirements of 4.05-1(a)(5) and (a)(6) with respect to the death or injury of shipyard or harbor workers when such accidents are not the result of either a vessel casualty (e.g., collision) or a vessel equipment casualty (e.g., cargo boom failure) and are subject to the reporting requirements of Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) under 29 CFR 1904. 

NVIC 01-15 is available on the Coast Guard’s website here.