Good luck with that.
I can’t even imagine what the results would be if the USCG tried to turn everything that floats into commercial inspected vessels with licensed crews.
[QUOTE=Topsail;131535]I have read your article. It is a good initiative.
On one hand, we have to understand that there is a world between a Coast Guard Search & Rescue and to Render Assistance gratuitously, in good faith, without objection by the individual assisted and so far as the master in charge can do so, without serious danger to the master’s or individual’s vessel or to individuals on board. The merchant marine crew is compulsory trained in Marine Emergency Duties primary to save themselves from a sinking or burning vessel, a man over board occurrence, etc., but not necessarily to render assistance to individual affected from a danger caused by a marine casualty. But they will do the best of their abilities along with the equipment availability. Apart from pilot ladders, cargo nets, horse collar, life rings, life raft in extreme cases, painters, messenger and hoisting lines, there is not much more alternative. But I think that it is more than sufficient.
The cargo vessel type, its manoeuvring capabilities, freeboard heights, sailing surfaces, sea state and visibility can compromise a relatively safe transfer. Lack or quality of training, leadership, inventiveness, language problems, add to difficulties. As the Coast Guard, there is no obligation of success. You better be ready to survive longer than you hope. A CG chopper can turn back ashore if the SAR operation is found to be at undue risks …
On the other end, we have the right to address the competency of yacht skippers and the seaworthiness of their non-inspected crafts. What is the compulsory credential needed to sail a yacht on the high seas in terms of medical fitness, general yacht knowledge, navigation, meteorology, mechanics & electricity, marine emergency duties (distress, control damage, survival, fire fighting), medical first aid, just to name some of the required fields.
Moreover, what are the CG regulated criteria to class a sailing yacht Blue Water or Ocean Going in terms of anchoring systems, deck to hull connection & sealing systems, port holes, cabin hatchway, watertight collision or transom bulkheads, keel integrity, chain plates, rudder skeg combination & support, reinforced impact zones, bounding system, fore & back stays, life rafts, immersion suits, storm sails, etc.
So let’s start by requesting obligatory training to the blue water skippers who wish to sail offshore territorial seas and by the obligation of supplying certificates of seaworthiness inspections prior outbound clearances. You will then reduce the obligation to Render Assistance gratuitously and in good faith to the minimum.[/QUOTE]