In April 2013 the US Coast Guard (USCG) notified the industry that forms CG-2692 “Report of Marine Casualty” and CG-2692B “Report of Required Chemical Drug and Alcohol Testing Following a Serious Marine Incident” had been revised. Although there are apparently not many substantial changes from the previous versions of these forms, the USCG emphasises in a recent notice that the new forms are the only approved versions that will be accepted for reporting a marine casualty.
Members and clients with vessels operating in US waters should ensure that their fleets have available the most recent versions of the US marine casualty report forms and commence using these immediately. It is also important to ensure that crews and operational personnel are well aware of the requirement to immediately notify the USCG of any hazardous conditions or casualties onboard, as failure to report a vessel’s hazardous condition could be considered a criminal act, see article “US law - Crew's failure to report hazardous condition aboard vessel” published in Gard News 202 (2011).
Additional information
A phone call or fax to the USCG typically satisfies the immediate initial notice requirement; but formal report of the incident, in the form of CG-2692 must also be filed within five days. If the a marine casualty can be defined as a serious marine incident in accordance with 46 CFR 4.03-2 (one or more deaths, discharge of oil of 10,000 gallons or more, damage to property in excess of USD 100,000 are common examples), the report must also be supplemented by CG-2692B. In many instances it may be useful to obtain advice from the local correspondent or Gard (North America) before submitting anything in writing to the USCG.
The time limit for comments to the draft NVIC was 14 April 2014 but as far as Gard is aware, the NVIC has not yet been finalised and no specific finalisation date has been announced. Members and clients are therefore advised to monitor the progress of the proposed guidance.
A copy of the draft NVIC is available under Docket ID: USCG-2013-1047 on www.regulations.gov. Click here for a direct link. Once finalised, the NVIC is likely to be available on the “Investigations” subpages on http://homeport.uscg.mil.
1 A Gard Insight Article: “Marine oil spills in the US – planning, response, and consequences – a visual understanding of the overall system” will be published in the near future.