Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 4022 MARCH 2017 • FOGHORN COAST GUARD REPORT R egulations often get a bad rap. Among common complaints are: regulations take too long to implement, they lag industry develop- ment, and they stifle innovation. The first two complaints are often true. In many cases, prescriptive regulations have been implemented in reaction to a serious marine safety, security, or environmental protection related incident. Further, given public expec- tations for a transparent, consultative and deliberate regulatory develop- ment process, it often takes a long time to bring regulations into effect. While regulations may stifle innovation (there are notable examples) more often than not, industry is able to innovate within the context of the existing regu- lations. The maritime industry offers many examples of how innovation is occurring within a framework of pre- scriptive standards. I recently attended an international symposium on maritime safety and the future of regulations. Senior execu- tives from every segment of the global maritime industry gave presentations demonstrating how dynamic their in- dustries were and why we needed to change the regulations. They provided powerful examples of the changes underway, including 15,000+ TEU container ships; 5,500+-person capacity floating resort style cruise ships; and dynamically positioned mobile offshore drilling units. These ships and systems are marvels of modern engineering, but innovation is not limited to these mega-ships. Over a similar period, the U.S. passenger vessel industry built large main vertical zone casino boats, extremely low fire load fast ferries, sub- mersible reef viewers, and incorporated alternative power sources. While the industry may be changing rapidly, the point these executives missed was that all of these vessels have been designed, built and operated under a basic regu- latory structure that has changed very little—comparatively—over the past four decades. Yes, the regulations have grown in size and detail, but the basic structure remains intact.As such, rather than supporting the call for changing regulations, these examples support the premise that current safety regula- tions already allow for significant in- novation. There are several methods to support innovation within current maritime regulations. These methods Innovations and Regulations: How Coast Guard Regulations are Keeping Up with New Industry Ideas By CAPT John Mauger, Commanding Officer of the United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Center range from: (1) designing new materials or systems that meet existing standards; (2) demonstrating equiva- lency to existing standards—either through alternative standards or risk assessments; or (3) developing formal alternative policies. These methods form a continuum of options available to permit the incorporation of novel features in modern vessel design. Examples of how these strategies have been used to facilitate innovation include: • New materials/systems that meet existing standards The Coast Guard recently approved the design of a new bulkhead material and construction technique for A-30 fire boundaries. The manufacturer identified new materials and assembly methods that passed existing tests while providing greater design flex- ibility. • Equivalency to existing standards There is great interest in the use of batteries as an alternative source of power. Existing prescriptive regula- tions are dated and refer only to sealed lead-acid batteries. The Coast Guard is currently considering new battery designs, on a case-by-case basis, which may provide the intended level of safety via compliance with alternative standards/criteria and mitigation of the unique risks presented by higher energy density installations. • Formal alternative policies for equivalency In the 1990’s the Coast Guard published multiple formal policies that provided prescriptive alternatives to existing regulations for the construc- tion of extremely low fire load ferries, About the Author Captain John Mauger is the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Center where he promotes maritime safety and environmental protection through the engineering review and approval of over 17,000 plans annually for the design, construction and alteration of U.S. and foreign vessels, equipment, and offshore oil and gas facilities. Prior to this assignment, Captain Mauger led the Coast Guard’s Office of Design and Engineering Standards. There, he led interagency teams to promote Arctic safety and the use of alternative fuels as the U.S. Head of Delegation for development and adoption of the International Maritime Organization’s Polar Code and the International Code for Gas-Fuelled Ships. He is a Coast Guard Academy graduate and holds Masters’ degrees in engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and national security from National Defense University.