NTSB and Coast Guard at odds over passenger vessel safety regs

The two largest government bodies affecting maritime transport safety requirements have a difference of opinion that could affect the safety of life at sea.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in a recent report about a 2008 fire aboard a Columbia River passenger vessel, strongly recommends that all vessels authorized to carry over 49 passengers be mandated to have a fixed fire-suppression system and fire-detection sensors in the engine room.

But the Coast Guard disagrees. According to a Professional Mariner Magazine article about the NTSB report, the Coast Guard opposes such a requirement, “citing costs, lack of injuries from similar incidents, and the small number of fires that would be affected.”

Would the Coast Guard have responded differently had there been mass casualties among the 124 passengers and 53 crew aboard the Queen of the West?

The NTSB’s report praises Ambassadors International Inc.’s Majestic America Lines, the operator at the time of the blaze aboard the 221 foot stern wheeler, for having had the foresight to install a CO2 firefighting system and fire alarms two years earlier. The report says that “early use of the system avoided a forced evacuation and likely prevented significant injuries and loss of life.” A nearby tug pushed the vessel along shore and all evacuated safely.

The fire broke out after fluid leaking from a hose sprayed onto an exhaust pipe.

Source: Professional Mariner