Page 10: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2017)

Marine Casualty Investigation

About the Author

Dennis L. Bryant is with Bryant’s Mari- time Consulting, and a regular contribu- tor to Maritime Reporter & Engineering

In the realm of marine casualty investigations the allocation

News as well as online at MaritimePro- of blame should be secondary to marine safety.

fessional.com. t: 1 352 692 5493 e: [email protected]

There are three important criteria for ma- this Act. Additionally, the Conferees direct the records are made available in accordance Security (DHS) Of? ce of Inspector General

INSIGHTS: GOVERNMENT UPDATE rine casualty investigations to be of value to the Coast Guard to begin publishing the re- with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). (OIG) issued a report highly critical of the the maritime industry. First, the report must maining marine casualty reports by the end This requires a member of the public submit- Coast Guard marine inspection process. The be completed promptly. It does little good of ? scal year 2005. ting a written request for a copy of a speci? c Inspector General found that there were sig- to see for the ? rst time the report on a ca- The Conferees are concerned that marine or reasonably identi? able marine casualty ni? cant de? ciencies in the operations of the sualty that occurred three or more years ago. casualty reports are currently not available report. The record will not be released until program. Speci? cally, the report stated that

Second, the report must be publicly dissemi- in an electronic format that allows the gen- it has received ? nal approval from the Com- the program was hindered by unquali? ed nated. The best report is of little value if it eral public easy access to information in the mandant, an action that can take years. personnel; by investigations conducted at is available only to the principals. Third, the reports that could lead to improved boating inappropriate levels; and by ineffective man- report must focus on the root cause of the ca- safety. The Conferees acknowledge that one agement of a substantial backlog of investi-

Policies sualty. The primary goal of the investigation of the purposes of marine casualty reports Marine casualty investigation policies are gations needing review and closure. process should be the prevention of future was for enforcement and that the reports of- addressed primarily in the USCG Marine Later that month, the Subcommittee on casualties. The allocation of blame should be ten contain personal information which can- Safety Manual, Volume V – Investigations Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation secondary to marine safety. not be released to the general public. The and Enforcement. Topics include, but are of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure conducted a hearing on the

Coast Guard casualty investigation program.

Regulations de? ne what marine casualties must be investigated, but there

In large part, it reiterated the OIG ? ndings.

The Summary of Subject Matter (SSM) ac- have been continuing complaints about how the regulations should be inter- companying the hearing report noted that the preted. With respect to making reports of marine casualties available to

Coast Guard had yet to make its marine ca- the public, the regulation simply state that the records are made available sualty reports available in electronic format.

The SSM provided the example of the 14 in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

July 2006 fatality on the sailing vessel Ala- bama, when a crew member fell from the rig- ging. The Incident Investigation Report (IIR)

Conferees also understand the Coast Guard not limited to: training and certi? cation of in- available electronically from the Coast Guard concerns that electronically publishing these vestigators; levels of effort; fact ? nding and consisted of two pages of cursory informa-

Statutes

Federal law provides that the U.S. Coast reports will strain current resources and re- evidence handling; marine casualty analysis; tion. A FOIA request for the same incident

Guard shall conduct an immediate investiga- quire changes to technical procedures and ad- and safety recommendations. A very short resulted in the full marine casualty report tion of marine casualties to decide, as closely ditional human review to ensure that no per- section addresses public and media relations. (privacy information redacted) identifying as possible, the cause of the casualty; wheth- sonal information is inadvertently released. That section largely concludes that availabili- the probable cause and making two important er an act of misconduct or negligence con- This phase-in period for all marine casualty ty of marine casualty reports is handled under safety recommendations, none of which was tributed to the casualty; and whether there is reports is provided to allow the Coast Guard FOIA. More recently, and following a series re? ected in the IIR. a need for new laws or regulations to prevent time to implement the technical and policy of complaints from the marine industry, the In May 2013, DHS/OIG published another recurrence of the casualty. Reports of these procedures needed to electronically publish Coast Guard promulgated Navigation and report on marine accident reporting, investi- investigations must be made available to the these reports without inadvertently releasing Vessel Inspection Circular 01-15, Marine Ca- gations, and enforcement in the U.S. Coast public. All marine casualty reports completed important personal information. sualty Reporting Procedures Guide with As- Guard. Again, the report found that the Coast after 25 November 2002 must be published sociated Standard Interpretations. The goal Guard did not have adequate processes to in- in an electronic form. The Conference Re- of this document was to provide stakeholders vestigate, take corrective actions, and enforce

Regulations port accompanying the 2002 amendment to Regulations de? ne what marine casualties a uniform standard of what marine casualties federal regulations related to the reporting of the marine casualty reporting law includes (at must be investigated, but there have been are to be reported to the Coast Guard, so as to marine accidents. The Coast Guard had not pages 106-107) the following: continuing complaints about how the regula- minimize confusion on this important issue. developed and retained suf? cient personnel,

The Conference substitute requires the tions should be interpreted. With respect to established a complete process with dedi-

Coast Guard to begin publishing all major making reports of marine casualties available cated resources to address corrective actions,

External Review and provided adequate training to personnel marine casualty reports upon enactment of to the public, the regulation simply state that In May 2008, the Department of Homeland 10 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2017

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