Page 23: of Marine News Magazine (February 2015)

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the equipment that is needed, such as the towboats or barges that they acquire to operate their equipment over water.

With regard to staf? ng, operating vessels with unquali- ? ed and/or inadequately certi? cated crew can expose the company to liability or invalidate certain insurance cover- age. The courts have ruled that a vessel that is not manned by a competent master and crew is unseaworthy. Further- more, the insurer may exclude coverage by showing incom- petency of the crew. Thus, if you operate a vessel without properly vetted and licensed crew, and an accident occurs, you could be found liable and the insurance company may decline paying for any of the damage if you do not have the right crew on board.

A comprehensive discussion of manning requirements could ? ll a library and otherwise is beyond the scope of this article. By way of illustration, 46 U.S.C. §8904 states that a towing vessel of at least twenty-six feet in length must be operated by an individual licensed by the Coast

Guard to operate that type of vessel in that particular geo- graphic area. As such, each towing vessel must be operated by a captain that is licensed with the appropriate level li- cense. The statute also includes a provision that regulates the “hours of service” that the employee can work. These hours of service rules may or may not match up with the traditional work schedules of land-based work crews.

Depending upon the scope of the work being performed, and the workboats utilized, it is important to analyze your operation to make sure that you have acquired the right employees to operate the equipment that you are utilizing.

Your land based equipment operator may have the abil- ity to run the small push boat that you acquired to move the barge around, but should he? Only a thorough exami- nation of the rules speci? c to your situation can identify these potential issues.

NSURANCE APPLES TO ORANGES

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With regard to insurance, a land-based operator will be familiar with the workers’ compensation system and will have obtained adequate insurance to protect employees and the company from the types of risks they would typi- cally expect on shore. However, once these land-based op- erators move to the marine environment, insurance needs differ and these traditional insurance policies may not (and probably will not) cover many of the risks inherent to op- erating in the marine environment.

With regard to employees, it is important to note that a workers’ compensation policy will not afford coverage to employees that are found to be Jones Act Seamen or long- shoremen under the Longshore Act. With regard to prop- www.marinelink.com