Do USCG safety regs apply to foreign flagged vessels

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by gpeacock

To add to that (so nobody reading this later is confused). It seems (according to the policy doc posted by sailorchic) that Canada has signed a reciprocal agreement with the US that allows for Canadian CG certified vessels to operate in US waters without having to comply with USCG carriage requirements (lifejackets, signaling devices and fire extinguishers etc). Seems like boats from other countries are out of luck!
Gary

That makes sense; there are a lot of rules and when I was doing boarding parties in the US Navy it was always case by case. We'd actually call back to a legal department in Washington to verify before we actually loaded up and paid whomever a visit.

It really is a mess of rules. We never did inspections for safety equipment; as long as we could point a track out that the vessel was inbound to US waters and it wasn't a sovereign vessel of whatever state, it was fair game.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

They can inspect:

- any US flagged vessel, anywhere.
- any vessel in US waters except for warships or government vessels.
- any vessel believed to be heading towards US waters.


So yes, to answer the thread starter's question, you are subject to USCG rules. It varies nation to nation based on rules in the UN, unilateral treaties, and bilateral arrangements.

Unfortunately, in essence.......I wouldn't' cruise here if I already didn't live here.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by gpeacock

To add to that (so nobody reading this later is confused). It seems (according to the policy doc posted by sailorchic) that Canada has signed a reciprocal agreement with the US that allows for Canadian CG certified vessels to operate in US waters without having to comply with USCG carriage requirements (lifejackets, signaling devices and fire extinguishers etc). Seems like boats from other countries are out of luck!
Gary

And vice versa. US certified boats can operate in Canadian waters. Sailerchic, thanks for posting that, I was aware of it generally but it's nice to have the actual documentation.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

Unfortunately, in essence.......I wouldn't' cruise here if I already didn't live here.

There are some jerk Sailors and Coast Guardsmen but if you put yourself in their shoes (or boots, as it were) you're dealing with the ocean, drug runners, human smugglers, idiots risking the lives of others, not to mention no-kidding navies and pirates.

The rules are loose to make it possible for them to do their jobs. We never hassled anyone unfairly, and as a civilian I've always been treated well.

[DeepFrz]

I know this is an old thread but the policy doc. posted by SC34 if for ships of greater than 300 tons. It is not for pleasure vessels that in effect do not carry passengers in trade.