Bay Area 4C's Standardizes RIN Procedure

The Bay Area 4C's, a regulatory body and industry group established in the San Francisco Bay area to address maritime regulatory issues, recently completed a Total Quality Management (TQM) process to recommend a procedure for U.S.-flag, deep-draft vessel re-inspection (RIN).

Working in close cooperation, the team included the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the Maritime Administration (MarAd), American President Lines (APL), Arco, Chevron, Crowley, International Maritime Carriers, Matson, Sea-Land, San Francisco Dry Dock (SFDD) and Alpha International.

Utilizing quality tools, the group focused on mid-term or RIN inspections conducted by the USCG in the San Francisco Bay area as a topic to analyze for improvement.

Meeting monthly, the group evolved through the process and developed a procedure that, if utilized, should provide an efficient costeffective RIN while complying with regulatory safety requirements. The group initially identified 28 specific areas or "problems" that were felt to be worthy of investigation for possible process improvement.

Upon reaching the final phase of implementation for the RIN process, 16 of the original 28 issues has been addressed and eight of them resolved. The Bay Area 4C's (Customer, Contractor, Coast Guard, Communication) was established in October 1992 by Southwest Marine/ SFDD. The group's mission statement has been established: "To provide a forum for maritime regulatory issues to promote understanding and process improvement through information sharing and problem resolution."