Shipmates,
I recently met in San Francisco with the Passenger Vessel Association. PVA represents the "non-foreign cruise ship" passenger vessel industry. I previously met with PVA in 2007 at their meeting in Charleston, SC. This is a very important partnership for the Coast Guard. Many PVA members are small businesses that represent the maritime culture of their operating areas including dinner cruises, water taxis, charter cruises, and ferries. In many ways they are the private sector "face of the port" in much the same way that our coastal stations are the face of the Coast Guard.
I met with the executive leadership of PVA and then addressed their general membership, taking questions in both fora. The topics addressed included the transition to the Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC), biometrics, licensing, proposed changes to water discharge permits (overboard discharges), potential changes in weight standards for passengers in assessing capacity and stability of vessels carrying passengers for hire, automated identification systems (AIS), wind farms, and ballast water management (invasive species).
If I were to summarize the most significant theme from our discussions it would their desire for the federal government to be able to assess the collective impact of regulations on small passenger vessel operations. In fact, they raised a good point. We tend to look at a particular rule (regulation) in a stovepipe related to the cause for action or statutory mandate. I have asked our marine safety folks to take a look at this.
We appreciated the hospitality and the honest, open feedback as we continue to implement improvements in our Marine Safety program.
ADM A
