Inspection of Towing Vessels: New Developments in Towing Safety Management Systems
The new Subchapter M to 46 CFR proposes prescribed procedures for vessel compliance in obtaining a Certificate of Inspection for all towing vessels equal to or greater than 26 feet in length; as well as some towing vessels less than 26 feet towing a barge carrying oil or other dangerous or combustible cargo in bulk. Following implementation of the final rule for Subchapter M, tug owners and operators will have two years to develop their Towing Safety Management System (TSMS) . . . and an initial Certificate of Inspection (COI) must be obtained within four years from the tug’s TSMS approval. Certain requirements for electrical or machinery systems are deferred until five years after the initial COI. Towing vessels moving oil or hazardous material in bulk have specific electrical and machinery requirements deferred until five years after the initial COI. Further information can be obtained on the Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise (TVNCOE) or by contacting a Coast Guard District of Area Towing Vessel Coordinator (District 15 Seattle: 206-220-7217; District 17 Juneau: 907‑463‑2849).
On December 9, 2011, Jennifer Carpenter with The American Waterway Operators (AWO) responded to the Coast Guard’s Notice of Proposed Ruling Making (NPRM) setting forth AWO’s comments. “Under the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making), a company using the Coast Guard option would incur substantial additional costs to meet detailed and costly ‘prescriptive requirements’, for such things as electrical systems and equipment, without the ability to demonstrate compliance with more flexible ‘functional requirements’ as specified in a TSMS. Similarly, a company using the Coast Guard option could incur substantial demurrage costs while waiting for a Coast Guard inspector to approve a vessel repair or for an OCMI to issue a permit to proceed, while a vessel operating under a TSMS could get underway more quickly following the procedures laid out in the company TSMS.”
Significant cost burdens to the tug owner and operator will derive from proposed equipment requirements that will require substantial and costly modification to existing towing vessels with an actual history of safe operation. Compliance with the proposed requirements for redundant, independent means of propulsion, steering, and related controls for towing vessels moving tank barges and proposed requirements for electrical systems and equipment on existing towing vessels will far exceed even the Coast Guard’s high-end estimates of the costs of a TSMS, without an equivalent corresponding safety benefit. The AOW estimates the cost of retrofitting an existing towing vessel to comply with the noted equipment requirements to average $180,000 to $300,000 per vessel before factoring in the significant costs associated with time out of service while the vessel is undergoing modification. Some members estimate the cost will be as much as $1-million per vessel to bring certain vessels into compliance.
The AWO has offered suggestions to reduce the cost of these regulations without detracting from their safety benefits:
- The prescriptive equipment requirements be eliminated if they are not justified by a towing vessel casualty history and risk that otherwise would impose severe financial burdens of existing towing vessels.
- The proposed requirements in 46 CFR part 143, Subpart D of Part 143 [Requirements For Towing Vessels That Tow Oil or Hazardous Materials in Bulk] requiring towing vessels moving tank barges to be equipped with independent, redundant means of propulsion, steering, and related control; and, the proposed electrical systems requires for the existing towing vessels contained in Subpart C at: § 143.340 [Electrical power sources, generators, and motors], 143.345 [Electrical distribution panels and switchboards], 143.350 [Electrical overcurrent protection other than generators and motors], 143.355 [Electrical grounding and ground detection], and 143.360 [Electrical conductors, connections, and equipment], all should be deleted because they will not lead to an increase in towing vessel safety in any way proportionate to their costs.
- Equipment Requirements such as those proposed in Subpart D are not relevant to mishaps caused by human error, such as equipment-related mishaps pertaining to steering failure, typically the result of deficient maintenance practices that failed to provide early warning of a worn-out system. Safety management systems in lieu of equipment requirements proposed in Subpart D are optimally suited to prevent such deficiencies.
Proposed Part 143 Subpart D is dramatically understated by the Coast Guard as impacting a mere 26 towing vessels. In fact, the requirement will require extensive and expensive modifications to nearly every towing vessel moving tank barges in the United States, far exceeding the projected $250 to $20,000 cost per vessel. The costs are project to run upwards of $200,000 for many existing towing vessels, in addition to time out of service. The AWO is urging the Coast Guard to delete proposed electrical system requirements for existing towing vessels at § 143.340, 143.345, 143.350, 143.355 and 143.360. The Coast Guard has the authority under existing regulations to require changes to unsafe electrical installations on towing vessels. It is not necessary to require wholesale changes to electrical system requirements for towing vessels that have operated safely for many years in order to effectively address existing unsafe situations. These proposed requirements require changes which will cost as much as $100,000 per towing vessel, excluding time out of service.
The AWO recommends that proposed § 143.340, 143.345, 143.350, 143.355 and 143.360 be deleted. Proposed § 143.350 (the Electrical Systems, General) sets forth appropriate functional requirements for electrical systems and equipment on existing towing vessels and is consistent with the approach recommended by Towing Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC).
For copies of the Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) or to make comments go to http://www.regulations.gov - enter docket number USCG-2006-24412 in the "Docket ID" box.
John Lenker’s environmental practice is tracking the Inspection of Towing Vessels: New 46 CFR Subchapter M: and the cost of prescriptive requirements, deferred machinery and electrical compliance and deferred redundancy compliance.
