The United States Coast Guard will be conducting free dockside safety exams in Wrangell for commercial fishing vessels from April 4 – 7, which take about an hour and raise awareness of fishing vessel safety, safety carriage requirements and applicable regulations.
The voluntary exams count toward compliance with USCG marine safety requirements the same as its mandatory dockside exams. All commercial fishing vessels operating beyond three nautical miles from territorial sea baseline must be inspected.
Participants of the examination will be issued a decal good for two years. The next mandatory exam then must be completed within five years from the issue date of the vessel’s most recent decal.
If boarded, vessels that have not had a mandatory exam within the required time frame can expect to get a warning and must subsequently contact a fishing vessel examiner within 30 days to schedule the mandatory exam. Subsequent boardings after 30 days will result in the operator being issued a violation.
One of the benefits of having a valid decal is vessel operators can expect to see abbreviated boarding times if issued in the last two years. Those vessels with decals that have expired can expect boarding officers to conduct a more extensive examination of their required safety equipment. Fishing vessels that are required to carry national marine fisheries services observers are required to have an unexpired decal.
Vessel operators interested in scheduling a dockside exam can call Jim Paul at 907-617-2523. A new vessel-specific checklist generator is also available at http://www.fishsafewest.info, which creates a printable list of pertinent safety requirements prior to the examination.
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