TVIB News News and Updates

USCG – Credentialing Officers of Towing Vessels

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02/24/2017

The Coast Guard has issued guidances for credentialing officers of towing vessels. They are pointing mariners back to Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 03-16 which provides the guidelines. The NVIC contains FAQs and information related to the transition of the Towing Officer Assessment Record (TOAR) from NVIC 04-10 to the information in NVIC 03-16.

Click here to review the USCG guidance published on 02/24/2017.

Click here to download NVIC 03-16 Guidelines for Credentialing Officers of Towing Vessels.

SAFETY ALERT-Suspect and Counterfeit Items

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Excerpt from Safety Alert Number 03-17 published 04/06/2017

The USCG issued a Safety Alert regarding potential suspect and counterfeit items. Such items lack the quality and capabilities of authentic ones and can lead to marine casualties and unsafe conditions. Stakeholders should implement policies to ensure that items purchased are authentic.

Suspect / Counterfeit Items (S/CIs) are products represented as meeting specified manufacturing and quality requirements when, in fact, they do not. S/CIs have been a known problem to industry and the government since the early 1980s. This concern initially focused on fasteners and over time has been expanded to include many items, both electrical and mechanical. The Coast Guard is routinely made aware of various types of counterfeit equipment and products in the marine industry. Oftentimes, such items are lifesaving products and fire-fighting equipment, which represent an extreme hazard. S/CIs can cause:

  • marine casualties causing extensive damage to equipment, vessels and the environment;
  • unsafe conditions that put people at risk of injury or death; and
  • delays that impact vessel schedules and create additional operating costs.

Click here to review and download the full document.

TVIB at the Inland Waterways Conference and Upcoming Classes

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We invite you to stop by our booth next week at the Inland Waterways Conference being hosted at the Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati.  If you have fellow industry friends with questions or prospective TPO customers bring them by and let’s have a conversation. We encourage our auditor and surveyor members to stop by the booth to catch up on all that’s been happening in your organization.

TVIB will be represented on a panel Tuesday morning titled “Special Forum: Sub Chapter M: The Changing Face of Coast Guard Inspections.”  There will be industry representatives from towing companies, Third Party Organizations, and USCG representatives on this panel. Click here to download the agenda for the conference.  Thank you all for your continued support of TVIB, we look forward to seeing you next week. Please make sure to stop by visit with us a bit.

Not a member yet?  Been thinking about joining TVIB? Stop by next week and let’s talk.

Don’t forget we have two upcoming classes open for registration:

Marine Internal Lead Auditor (MILA) – March 21-22 in Houston, TX – Click here for more information

Surveyor of Inspected Towing Vessels (SITV) – April 3-7 in Mandeville, LA – Click here for more information

Click here to view all course offerings from TVIB.