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 40APRIL 2017 • FOGHORN 29 SAFETYMATTERS By Eric Christensen, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Risk Management +1 920.686.5117 sales@burgerboat.com burgerboat.com/commercial Proudly built in the USA Burger is recognized worldwide for quality custom vessels that provide years of dependable service. Quality Commercial Vessels... Built by Burger to Your Requirements • Aluminum and Steel Fabrication • Passenger Vessels • Research Vessels • Fast Crew Boats • Fast Supply Boats • Wind Farm Support Vessels • Fishing Vessels • Other Vessels to 260' (80m) Under Construction 103’ (31m) Steel Explorer Vessel O nJanuary5,2017,theU.S.Coast Guard’s Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance issued policy letter 16-05, titled Risk Based Decision Making (RBDM) for Small Passenger Vessel (SPV) Annual Inspection Activity. The purpose of this policy is to provide the local Officer in Charge Marine Inspection (OCMI) with a tool to manage workloads using a risk based approach. In short, less risky, more compliant operators could see fewer traditional inspections compared to higher risk operations that just meet minimum federal requirements. Resources and Workload According to the Coast Guard, the domestic passenger vessel fleet is made up of 6,345 vessels (2016). This is a nearly 4 percent increase over 2014 and up until towing vessels were added to the U.S. inspected fleet, rep- resented nearly half the nation’s fleet. Coast Guard resources have not kept pace with the growth of the fleet. In addition, over the last couple years PVA staff and members have noticed personnel reductions at some Coast Guard inspection offices. With the pub- lication of Subchapter M, mandating the inspection of approximately 6,000 towing vessels, Coast Guard inspection and investigation resources will likely be strained despite the opportunity for towing vessel operators to use Third Party Organizations. The policy letter formalizes and gives Coast Guard Headquarters Reducing the Scope of Coast Guard Inspections