Subchapter M deadline arrives

The deadline for 100% COI compliance signals full implementation of the Subchapter M towing vessel safety regulations, the product of a nearly 20-year partnership between the tugboat, towboat and barge industry and the U.S. Coast Guard to raise standards industry-wide and promote safer waterways for mariners, the public and the marine environment.

Subchapter M establishes two paths to compliance for towing vessel operators: either annual Coast Guard inspections or the implementation of a Coast Guard-accepted Towing Safety Management System (TSMS).

RDML Wayne R. Arguin, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, said: “It is with extreme enthusiasm that I welcome a fleet of more than 5,000 towing vessels into U.S. domestic inspected status. This is a historic occasion for both the commercial towing industry and the Coast Guard as we have been working toward this moment since the 2004 Authorization Act which added towing vessels as an inspected class.”

Hon. Jennifer Homendy, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board, said: “Today is a great day for marine safety, thanks to our partners at the U.S. Coast Guard, American Waterways Operators, and the industry at large — all of whom worked for years to set minimum safety standards for towing vessels. The NTSB has long advocated for Safety Management System in all modes of transportation, because it’s one of the most important steps you can take to save lives. That is why we strongly encourage all operators to implement a Towing Safety Management System, even if they choose the USCG inspection option.”

Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), Ranking Member, House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, said: “I want to congratulate the U.S. tug and barge industry on the long, hard work they put in to become a fleet fully inspected by the Coast Guard. Congress, with the support of the American Waterways Operators, directed the Coast Guard to undertake an inspection program in 2004. Although it took the Coast Guard a number of years to write the program’s regulations, they became final in 2018, and the phased-in implementation is now complete.

“Compliance has had its costs, and operating changes have been necessary to meet the requirements of the new Certificates of Inspection. The industry should be proud of having undertaken these efforts to ensure an even safer and more efficient tug and barge fleet, and I look forward to more cargo moving on U.S. waterways in coming years.”