USCG: UPDATE RULE CHANGE – PIC of Fuel Oil Transfers on Inspected Vessels (MMC now optional)
Excerpt from Federal Register Notice – Vol 85, No. 102 05/27/2020
Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 155 [Docket No. USCG–2018–0493] RIN 1625–AC50 Person in Charge of Fuel Transfers AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is amending the requirements regulating personnel permitted to serve as a person in charge (PIC) of fuel oil transfers on an inspected vessel by adding the option of using a letter of designation (LOD) in lieu of a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) with a Tankerman-PIC endorsement. Obtaining an MMC with a Tankerman-PIC endorsement is now optional for PICs of fuel oil transfers on inspected vessels. This change is not limited to towing vessels, but one effect of this rule is that a PIC currently using the LOD option on an uninspected towing vessel may continue to do so once the vessel receives its Certificate of Inspection.
DATES: This final rule is effective May 27, 2020. CG–MMC Policy Letter 01–17 is cancelled effective May 27, 2020.