Implementation of Training Requirements for Personnel Serving on U.S.-Flagged Passenger Ships That Carry More Than 12 Passengers on International Voyages
Key claim: Crew on U.S.-flagged passenger ships carrying more than 12 passengers on international voyages must complete emergency familiarization training, and more shipboard ratings must take crowd-management training.
Abstract
(Rule · Homeland Security Department, Coast Guard) The Coast Guard is amending its merchant mariner training regulations to implement amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, and the Seafarers’ Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code, to require personnel serving on U.S.-flagged passenger ships carrying more than 12 passengers on international voyages to complete passenger ship emergency familiarization. This final rule also expands the applicability of the required crowd management training to include specified ratings on passenger ships. These required trainings would promote the safety of life at sea.
Why this matters
This final rule tightens the baseline safety competencies required of crew on U.S.-flagged international passenger ships, aligning domestic practice with STCW Convention expectations after high-profile cruise and ferry incidents overseas. Expanding crowd-management training to more shipboard ratings is intended to reduce evacuation delays and casualties when a large passenger load must be mustered or disembarked in an emergency.