US Coast Guard increases thresholds for marine casualty reporting

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has increased marine casualty property damage thresholds for reportable marine casualties in US waters or incidents involving US ships.

The changes took effect April 18, 2018.

Back on March 19, the USCG published a final rule amending the monetary threshold amounts for reporting a marine casualty and/or a “serious marine incident” (SMI). Under the new rule, the reportable property damage threshold for a marine casualty has been raised from $25,000 to $75,000. For SMIs, the threshold was similarly increased from $100,000 to $200,000.

In an earlier release, the authority said that the monetary thresholds have been adjusted to better reflect inflation, noting that the previous threshold amounts were enacted in the 1980s. The USCG also added that the original regulations required mandatory drug and alcohol testing following an SMI – this led to vessel owners and operators conducting testing for casualties “less significant” than SMIs. The new changes loosen some of these restrictions for minor casualty incidents while reducing the amount of resources the USCG uses to investigate the claims.

Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide reported that certain other marine casualties – such as groundings or fire – must still be reported regardless of the property damage cost involved.