In 1838, the 25th Congress signed the Congressional Act of 1838 (5 Stat. L., 304) which constituted the Coast Guard’s Marine Inspection Program and came into effect in October 1st of that year. This was the first regulation authorized by the national government in order to provide better security for the lives of passengers on the ships in whole or in part by steam.
[The port state control works as the tool of verifying the implementation of rules, regulation and legislation both at a national and international level.]
The court appointed people to start inspecting ships due to the imposition of the law, which eventually required from steamship operators to employ skilled and competent workforce to carry out audits and issue certificates; carry out annual hull inspections; examine boilers every six months and upload the certificates for the information to the public.
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Prior to carrying any passengers, the operators had to show their compliance to the new safety law. Moreover, if any lives were lost due to misconduct, negligence, or inattention any member employed aboard such as the captain, engineer or pilot could be found guilty of manslaughter.
Throughout the past 181 years, the Coast Guard continued to serve the community even though steamships are uncommon in today’s maritime industry.
In fact, 19,000 inspections on U.S. flagged commercial ships and more than 9,600 Port State Control foreign ship examinations are carried out by Coast Guard marine inspectors nationwide every year in order to establish the safety of passengers, seafarers, cargo and the soundness of the marine environment. As such, USCG’s Domestic Vessel Annual Report for 2018 addressed more than 25,000 deficiencies.
Also, USCG comments that
Every day, our inspection workforce encounters professional mariners, class societies, industry-focused organizations, and other government partners who share our focus on marine safety, and it is humbling to see the commitment and dedication to our mutual cause.