If you are going to carry more than 6 paying passengers, the vessel must be inspected.
A small passenger vessel is a vessel of less than 100 gross tons carrying more than six passengers. A small passenger vessel is required to have a valid U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection and to be in full compliance with this certificate when passengers are aboard. The Certificate of Inspection is valid for five years from the date it is issued and describes the vessel, the route that the vessel may travel, the minimum number of required crew members, the number and types of safety and survival gear which must be on board, the maximum number of passengers, andthe total number of persons (including crew) that may be carried.
In order to obtain a Certificate of Inspection, a boat owner must apply for an initial inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard Officer in Charge of Marine Inspections for the area. The application for this inspection (Form CG 3752) must be submitted before an existing boat is converted to take passengers for hire.
The initial inspection includes review of construction materials, workmanship, and condition of all parts of the vessel, its machinery and equipment, including all life- saving, fire-detecting and fire-extinguishing equipment. Operating boats will likely be dry-docked for this inspection.
A stability test will also be performed to ensure that the vessel meets seaworthiness regulations and also to assist in determining the number of passengers that can be safely carried. This is done by fully loading the boat’s deck with known test weights, such as barrels of water or bags of sand, and shifting the test weights to the rail to simulate the movement of passengers. The boat passes if a line on the outside hull does not submerge.
The U.S. Coast Guard Officer in Charge of Marine Inspections will determine the number of passengers that a vessel can legally carry and issue a Certificate of Inspection that is very specific for the boat.
By the way, many boat captains will tell you that, as a general rule-of-thumb, multiplying your vessel’s length by its maximum width and dividing that number by 15 (or sometimes 18) will give you the total number of passengers that your boat can safely carry. For example a 40’ sailboat with a 13’ beam divided by 15 equals a maximum capacity of 34 passengers. There is no way I am going to pack even one-half that number on my boat!
Mike Wales is a California-licensed attorney and co-owner of AGL Yacht Sales, Inc., along with his wife Leilani Wales, CYPB, a licensed, bonded, and certified professional Yacht Broker. You may contact Mike at mike@aglyachtsales.com or at 480.250.5651.
