Following remarks on IMO 2020 during his keynote speech at Connecticut Maritime Association’s 2019 Shipping Conference, Rear Adm. John Nadeau also gave attendees a rundown of some of the other initiatives and issues the US Coast Guard’s prevention program focused on in 2018.
Firstly, Rear Adm. Nadeau focused on the release of the USCG’s first ever “Maritime Commerce Strategic Outlook,” as an important document that describes the strategic value of the entire Marine Transportation System – the ports, waterways, facilities, ships, mariners and other people – and how this system is vital to US national security and the country’s economic prosperity.
It also describes how the Coast Guard will serve as a key enabler for maritime commerce and contribute to the health of the entire system.
Citing the Coast Guard’s initiatives, Nadeau also noted that last year USCG started issuing detainable deficiencies to US flagged vessels, as a way to better track the health of the US fleet, just as under Port State Control. Many of these detainable deficiencies, according to the Coast Guard, are tied to the ship’s Safety Management System.
We also released our first annual Flag State Control report, which complements the annual port state control report we release around this time each year. The 2018 Port State Control report and the 2018 domestic annual report will be out soon and made available online and announced on our Maritime Commons blog. I encourage you to take a look at them,
…he further noted.
Additionally, he commented the USCG establishment of the Flag State Control Division at Coast Guard Headquarters. This new division is focused on developing and implementing program policy and procedures related to oversight of recognized organizations and third parties. They have released new policy which provides USCG inspectors with guidance for initiating “quality cases” in situations where the third party or RO may not be adequately performing their delegated functions.
Meanwhile, last year, he added, USCG conducted a risk assessment of all deep draft vessels and had 53 US flag ships that were deemed high risk and targeted for additional oversight.
We sent some of our most experienced inspectors to examine these vessels and identified 661 deficiencies, including 86 detainable deficiencies, and required seven external safety management audits. In the end… six vessels had their Certificates of Inspection revoked, prohibiting the vessels from operating until the matters were addressed. We will continue these types of exams to improve vessel operator accountability, monitor performance of third parties working on our behalf, and ensure safety.
Finally, Rear Adm. Nadeau commented the shutdown that occurred due to a lapse in appropriations from late December and through most of January. With a few exceptions, USCG were missing 20% of workforce for that 35 day period.
The vast majority were people responsible for equipment type approvals, vessel plan approvals, merchant mariner credential issuance, ballast water extensions and other key functions. We appreciate your support and understanding as we work through a significant amount of work that accumulated during the furlough,
…he concluded.
