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the assistance of his assigned maritime attorney who hadbeen contacted minutes after the incident and was waitingon the dock when the ferry landed. USCG?SHOBSONCHOICEFour months later, the ferry captain received a ?Warning in lieu of Suspension & Revocation? letter from the Coast Guard for a violation of Law or Regulation (46CFR 5.33), i.e. ?while serving as operator of said vessel, you failed to adhere to Inland Navigation Rule 18 by failing to keep out of the way of a sailing vessel while underway.? The captain?s MOPS attorney had earlier requested the Marine Safety Officer?s (MSO) file of the incident via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but had not received same before receipt of the Coast Guard complaint. After discussing the pros and cons of accepting the proposed Letter of Warning (LOW) sanction (and earlier being denied the opportunity to make further protestations when the 2692 was submitted), both the professional mariner and his attorney decided to accept the LOW rather than take the chance of losing an argument before an Administrative Law Judge over what constitutes a ?safe speed? and getting a more severe penalty including a sig- nificant license suspension.PREVENTION ISSAFESTCOURSEThere?s no moral or happy ending to cases like the one described above. There is also no way to avoid competing for space with the recreational boaters who are currently peeling away the vinyl or removing the tarps from their vessels as they prepare to launch. The cold, hard lesson to remember is that when there are encounters between com- mercial vessels and pleasure craft, the professional mariner will always be held to a higher standard of care. So, proceed with extra caution. Randy O?Neill is Senior Vice President with Lancer Insurance Company and has been Manager of its MOPS Marine License Insurance division since 1984. Over the past 28 years, Mr. O?Neill has spoken and written on many occasions on the importance of USCG license protection. He is a regu- lar contributor to MarineNews magazine. E-mail: [email protected] www.marinelink.com MN23MN#5 (18-31):MN 2011 Layouts 5/7/2012 9:54 AM Page 23