Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Steven Cantrell will testify March 14 before the Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/12/2018: Congressional hearing alert – Review of FY 2019 budget request

The campaign, scheduled to take place this spring, will involve interagency teams visiting multiple drilling and production units across the Gulf of Mexico. Teams will use a focused inspections protocol to evaluate safety, gather and provide data to BSEE’s Office of Safety Management.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/12/2018: Coast Guard, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to begin focused crane inspection campaign

The training afforded numerous opportunities for open dialogue between local Coast Guard marine inspectors and class surveyors to raise awareness of key safety issues, critical equipment components, and common deficiencies found onboard liquefied gas vessels.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/12/2018: Liquefied Gas Carrier NCOE delivers training to LGC class society surveyors

The Coast Guard, working with its domestic and International Maritime Organization partners, submitted a proposal to IMO to amend Annex VI to allow vessels with a Tier II compliant engine to enter and depart the North American or Caribbean emission control areas provided the vessel was proceeding to or departing from a shipyard or other repair facility located in the ECAs. The amendments are expected to enter into force 1 Jan. 1, 2019.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/8/2018: MARPOL ANNEX VI – Removal of unintended impact to shipyards by North American Emissions Control Area implementation

The Coast Guard-American Waterways Operators Safety Partnership held its National Quality Steering Committee meeting Feb. 21, 2018, with an agenda focusing on the concerns of the partnership and industry. Industry representatives discussed a variety of issues facing the towing industry and the meeting also included a series of updates from workgroups and quality actions teams on the progress of new initiatives and policy/regulatory implementations.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/08/2018: Coast Guard-American Waterways Operators Steering Committee meeting

The amendment allows for an equivalency to vessels using an existing safety management system to provide three years of objective evidence in lieu of having a TSMS Certificate for six months prior to issuance of a vessel’s initial COI.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/8/2018: Amendment to Subchapter M policy letter on use of existing SMS to obtain initial COI

The National Maritime Center posted a notice to its website announcing that mariners will be allowed to request harmonized expiration dates of their Merchant Mariner Credential and Medical Certificate.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/8/2018: Merchant mariner credential and medical certificate harmonization

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Center received its ninth application for Ballast Water Management System type approval for the BALPURE Ballast Water Management System manufactured by De Nora Water Technologies. MSC will review the application for compliance with U.S. Coast […] Source: USCG
Link: 3/7/2018: Ninth application received for BWMS type approval

The following products are available from the Navigation Center website:

• The Eighth (Gulf) Coast Guard District Local Notice to Mariners (10-2018): https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm0810g2018.pdf
• The weekly update to the 2018 USCG Light List, Volume Four: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=lightListWeeklyUpdates
  
• The Summary of Corrections: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/corrections/V4D08GM.pdf

If the links above do not work, you should either copy and paste the links into your web browser or follow the LNM links from the Navigation Center LNM page.

The Local Notice to Mariners, Light List, and Summary of Corrections are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and viewing them requires a PDF reader.  PDF readers are readily available on the internet, generally free of charge.

To download the latest information:

• Place your mouse over the “PDF” symbol next to the corresponding week.
• Right click for PC / Control click for Mac.
• Choose “Save Target As”.
• Save the PDF to your computer and open using your PDF reader.

If you have questions regarding this message, please contact the Navigation Center (use “LNMs, Charts, Chart Corrections, or Light Lists” as the subject from the pull down menu).

Source: LNM District 8
Link: District 08 (GULF) Week 10 LNM Now Available on Navigation Center Website

This blog highlights guidance provided in the recently released NVIC 01-18, “Ballast Water Management For Control Of Non-Indigenous Species In Waters Of The United States,” regarding requests for compliance extensions.
Source: USCG
Link: 3/7/2018: A closer look at NVIC 01-18 and BWMS compliance date extensions