[ve-l] VSC on Coast Guard Patrolled Waters

[Robert Miller]

Ahoy VEs,

 

The situation described below may apply to Coast Guard patrolled waters in
areas other than the one reference below so I am sending this out to all VEs
for information.

================================

 

One of the Squadron VSC Chairs in D16 brought to my attention that he had
reports of USCG boarding officers possibly not recognizing the VSC decal as
representing a valid safety review of the boat or something to that effect.
Prompted by his inquiry I contacted the responsible people in the local
Coast Guard Sector Office to make them aware of the possible problem. To
summarize the discussions, everyone I spoke with agreed that the patrols
should recognize the value of the VSC process and the VSC Decal. However,
the situation on the water is evolving and the Coast Guard is trying to do
more random boarding to improve their awareness and training. This means
that some boats will be boarded in spite of having a current VSC decal. This
should not be viewed as a failure of our VSC program but rather a
confirmation that our CG folks are trying to stay on top of their game. 

Fewer boats on the water will likely mean that any boat out there has a
higher probability of a random sample boarding. 

 

Vessel Examiners have a role in this process. We should be helping to set
peoples expectations. We should advise boat owners and operators that,
though the decal will likely reduce the probability of a random boarding, it
certainly does not guaranty it. We should also be making boaters aware that
CG presence and random boarding will have a high probability of increasing
anytime the security threat increases for any reason. 

 

Thanks for all you folks do to save lives.

 

Best Regards,

 

R/C Bob Miller

VSC Committee

 

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