Marine Exchange of Alaska

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• Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Reference Guide

Regulations Home > Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Reference Guide Links > Documented Vessels Operating Beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 POB

Documented Vessels Operating Beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 POB

• Fireman’s Outfit & Breathing Apparatus
• First Aid Equipment & Training
• Guards for Exposed Hazards
• Navigational Information
• Compasses
• Anchor Radar Reflectors
• General Alarm System
• Communication Equipment
• High Water Alarms
• Bilge Pumps, Piping, & Dewatering
• Electronic Position Fixing Device Emergency Instruction
• Instructions, Drills, & Safety

Fireman’s Outfit & Breathing Apparatus

46 CFR 28.205

BREATHING APPARATUS:

Documented commercial fishing vessels that use Ammonia Refrigerant must have:

1. Two self-contained breathing apparatus that:
   1. have as a minimum, a 30 minute air supply
   2. have a full facepiece
   3. have at least one spare bottle per each SCBA
   4. is approved by MSHA and NIOSH

FIREMAN’S OUTFIT:

Documented fishing vessels operating with more than 49 persons on board must have:

1. Two firemen’s outfits in widely separated locations that include:
   1. Self-contained breathing apparatus with lifeline attached
   2. One flashlight
   3. A rigid helmet
   4. Boots
   5. Gloves
   6. Protective clothing
   7. One fire axe

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First Aid Equipment & Training

46 CFR 28.210

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

1. Equipment
   1. First Aid Manual
   2. Medicine Chest
2. Training

Note: An individual certified in both first aid and CPR may be counted for both requirements.

* A certificate indicating completion of:

• Acceptable First Aid Courses:
  • American National Red Cross
  • Coast Guard approved course
• Acceptable CPR Certificates:
  • American National Red Cross
  • American Heart Association
  • Coast Guard approved course

Acceptability:

First Aid manual and medicine chest must be -

• of a size suitable for the number of persons on board and
• readily accessible.

1^ST Aid/CPR Training

• Proof of having had the training. The training is not required to be current, i.e., annual CPR training is not required.

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Guards for Exposed Hazards

46 CFR 28.215

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

• Suitable hand covers, guards, or railings must be installed in the way of machinery which can cause injury to personnel.
• Exhaust pipes from an engine in reach of personnel must be insulated or guarded to prevent burns.

Examples of items to be guarded:

• gearing
• chain or belt drives
• rotating shafting
• electrical hazards

Note: This is not meant to restrict access to fishing equipment such as:

• winches
• drums
• gurdies

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Navigational Information

46 CFR 28.225

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

Each vessel must have, for the area to be transited and operated in, current editions of:

1. Marine Charts properly scaled and with current corrections
2. A copy or extract of:
   1. U.S. Coast Pilot
   2. Coast Guard Light List
   3. Tide Tables
   4. Current Tables
3. Inland Navigation Rules must be carried by vessels of 39.4 ft (12m) or more in length operating shoreward of the COLREG Demarcation Line.

Acceptability:

• Charts must be of large enough scale to safely navigate the area and currently corrected.
• Required publications must be currently corrected or the latest published edition.

Note: D13 accepts the current edition of the Reed’s Nautical Almanac with the Nautical Companion (also called the Captain’s Pack) in lieu of the above listed publications.

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Compasses

46 CFR 28.230

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

1. Magnetic steering compass
2. Compass deviation table

Acceptability:

• Compass must be operable.
• Deviation table must be located at the operating station.

Note: It is recommended that at least 8 points of the compass be checked and recorded on the deviation table.

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Anchor

46 CFR 28.235

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

• Anchor with chain, cable, or rope.
• Appropriate for the vessel and waters.

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Radar Reflectors

46 CFR 28.235

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels with nonmetallic hulls operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirement:

• Radar Reflector.

Note: A vessel rigged with gear that provides a radar signature at 6nm distance is not required to have a radar reflector.

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General Alarm System

46 CFR 28.240

Applies to:

Documented fishing industry vessels

1. operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board, and
2. having an accommodation or workspace which is not adjacent to the operating station.

Requirements:

• An audible general alarm system with contact maker at the operating station.
• A flashing red light must also be installed in spaces where noise makes the alarm system difficult to hear.

Markings:

• Each general alarm bell and flashing red light must be identified with ½ inch red lettering as follows:

Attention

General Alarm - When Alarm Sounds Go to Your Station

Acceptability:

1. The alarm system must be capable of notifying an individual in any accommodation or work space where they may normally be employed.
2. The alarm must be tested:
   1. prior to operation of the vessel and
   2. at least once each week thereafter.

Note: A public address system may be used for the alarm system provided it is capable of the above stated requirements.

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Communication Equipment

46 CFR 28.245

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

Emergency Source of Power Must Be:

1. provide for all communications equipment
2. capable of supplying all connected loads continuously for at least three hours
3. be located outside the main machinery space.

Other Acceptability Items:

1. Location of the equipment must be such as to
   1. Ensure safe operation
   2. Facilitate repair
   3. Protect against vibration, moisture, temperature, excessive current/voltage.
   4. Minimize water intrusion from windows broken by heavy seas.
2. A single radio capable of communicating on the 2 -4 and 2 - 27.5MHz frequencies is acceptable.
3. A satellite communication system is an acceptable substitute for 2 -4 and 2 -27.5MHz radios.
4. A cellular phone capable of communicating with a Coast Guard station may substitute for the radios that operate in the 2 - 4 and 2 - 27.5MHz range.
5. A 4 - 20MHz radio installed before Sept. 15, 1991, may be used in lieu of a 2 -27.5MHz radio.
6. The principal operating position of the communication equipment must be at the operating station.

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High Water Alarms

46 CFR 28.250

Applies to:

Documented fishing industry vessels:

1. operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board, and
2. which are 36 feet or more in length.

Requirement:

• Visua and Audible alarm at the operating station to indicate high water levels in unmanned spaces.

Acceptability:

The following spaces must be included:

• A space with a through hull fitting below the deepest load waterline, such as a lazarette.
• A space subject to flooding from sea water piping, such as a machinery space bilge, bilge well, shaft alley bilge.
• A space with a non-watertight closure, such as a space covered with a non-watertight deck hatch.

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Bilge Pumps, Piping, & Dewatering

46 CFR 28.255

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

1. Bilge pumps and bilge piping capable of draining watertight compartments, except tanks and small buoyancy compartments.
2. Large spaces, such as enginerooms, must be fitted with more than one suction line.
3. Vessels 79 ft and over must be equipped with a fixed, self-priming, power bilge pump connected to a bilge manifold unless an individual pump is provided for each space.
4. Spaces used in the sorting or processing of fish:
   1. must be fitted with a dewatering system capable of dewatering the space at the same rate as water is introduced.
   2. The dewatering pump must be interlocked with the pump supplying the water so that if the dewatering pump fails, the water supply pump will be deactivated.

Acceptability:

• If a bilge pump is portable, it must have a suitable suction hose of adequate length to reach the bilge of each watertight compartment it must serve and a discharge hose of adequate length to ensure overboard discharge. The portable pump must be capable of dewatering each space it serves at a rate of at least 2 inches of water per minute.
• Except for a required fire pump, a bilge pump may be used for other purposes
• Except where an individual pump is provided for a separate space or for a portable pump, each individual bilge suction line must be led to a manifold, have a stop valve at the manifold and a check valve at some accessible point in the bilge line to prevent unintended flooding of a space.
• Each bilge suction line and dewatering system must be fitted with a suitable strainer to prevent clogging of the line. Strainers must have an open area of not less than 3 times the open area of the suction line.

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Electronic Position Fixing Device

46 CFR 28.260

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels 79 feet or more in length operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirement:

Vessel must be equipped with an electronic position fixing device such as:

• GPS/DGPS
• LORAN
• OMEGA
• RDF

Acceptability:

• The device must provide accurate fixes for the area in which the vessel operates.

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Emergency Instruction

46 CFR 28.265

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirement:

• Emergency instructions must be posted in conspicuous locations accessible to the crew.

Note: On vessels with less than 4 POB, the emergency instructions may be kept readily available in lieu of posting.

Acceptability:

The emergency instructions must identify at least the following information, as appropriate for the vessel:

1. Survival craft embarkation stations and the survival craft to which each person is assigned.
2. The fire and emergency signals and the abandon ship signal.
3. If immersion suits are provided, the location of the suits and illustrated instructions on the method for donning the suits.
4. Procedures for making a distress call.
5. Essential action to be taken in an emergency by each individual.
6. Procedures for rough weather at sea, crossing hazardous bars, and flooding.
7. Procedures for anchoring the vessel.
8. Procedures to be used in the event an individual falls overboard.
9. Procedures for fighting a fire.

Note: Items 6 - 9 may be kept readily available as an alternative to posting.

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Instructions, Drills, & Safety

46 CFR 28.270

Applies to: Documented fishing industry vessels operating beyond the Boundary Line or with more than 16 persons on board.

Requirements:

A. Drills

The master or individual in charge of each vessel must ensure that drills are conducted and instructions given to each individual on board at least once each month so as to ensure that each individual is familiar with their duties and responses to at least the following contingencies:

1. Abandoning the vessel.
2. Fighting a fire in different locations on board the vessel.
3. Recovering an individual from the water.
4. Minimizing the affects of unintentional flooding.
5. Launching survival craft and recovering lifeboats.
6. Donning immersion suits and other wearable PFDs.
7. Donning a fireman’s outfit and a self-contained breathing apparatus, if vessel is so equipped.
8. Making a voice radio distress call and using visual distress signals.
9. Activating the general alarm.
10. Reporting inoperative alarm and fire detection systems.

Drills must be conducted on board the vessel as if there were an actual emergency and must include participation by all persons on board.

B. Safety Orientation - The master or individual in charge of a vessel must ensure that a safety orientation is given to each individual on board that has not participated in the required drills before the vessel may be operated.

C. Training - No individual may conduct drills or provide instructions unless that individual has been trained in the proper procedures for conducting the activity.

Note: The individual conducting the drills and instruction need not be the master, individual in charge of the vessel, or a member of the crew.

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