Page 54: of Marine News Magazine (November 2011)

54MNNovember 2011can sometimes outweigh the price of the vessel. Some small operators may face shutting down in the face of shipyard bills they can?t afford. ?Vessels working six months or longer in salt water will be under more scrutiny than inland vessels, as far as steel structures and thicknesses and such.??For us that doesn?t pose as much of a concern,? said Rachel. ?One of our vessels is load line and classed and the other has extra-thick steel.?Beyond steel thickness, the inspec- tion of towing vessels will take a close look at safety and safety documenta-tion onboard. ?They?re going to make everyone toe the line right away with the Safety Management System (SMS), regardless of how new or old their boat is,? Rachel said, ?but Ithink there are grey areas and they?re still trying to determine to what extent they?re going to grandfather in older equipment,? she continued.?I think most people have their boats up to snuff when it comes tofirefighting and safety, but when they take it up a notch and start inspecting your steel thickness and how you report your paperwork in an SMS system, that?s a new plateau for a lot of operators,? said Dominique. However, AWO?s existing RCP par- allels much of the proposed Coast Guard regulations and once you?re on board with that, the heavy lift of complying with the new Coast Guard regulations in Sub Chapter M is mostly taken care of, Dominique said. ?So we?re not panicking when we see the new Sub Chapter M hit the presses because we?re already about 90% there with the require- ments.?Tradewinds Towing?s first tug, Miss Lis, transits under the Brooklyn Bridge. (Images courtesy Tradewinds Towing, LLC) MN#11 (50-65):MN 2011 Layouts 10/28/2011 10:23 AM Page 54