Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau News

28 Jan 2021

TVIB Launches Drydock and Internal Structural Examination Certification Course

(Photo: TVIB)

Recognizing a need in the market following the implementation of Subchapter M, the Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau (TVIB) launched a drydock and internal structural examination certification course..Subchapter M brought many new changes to the towing vessel industry, and now that two and a half years have gone by since the U.S. Coast Guard issued the first Certificates of Inspection (COI), towing vessel operators are beginning to address compliance with another key component of…

02 May 2018

Last-minute Tips for Subchapter M

Credit: Eric Norcross

Countdown to Subchapter M: Last-minute tips for choosing the USCG or TPO/TSMS option ...Subchapter M will finally be implemented in the tugboat and towing industry in only a few short months. It has taken over ten years to arrive, but the build-up and in some cases, hysteria, can only be compared to the Y2K scare at the end of 1999. During that period, the world said Y2K would cause computer crashes, commerce to end and daily life to come to a crashing halt.Now, fast forward almost twenty years and enter Subchapter M.

07 Jul 2017

TVIB Issues Its First TSMS Certificate to Crounse

On June 23, 2017, Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau (TVIB) issued its first Towing Safety Management System (TSMS) certificate to Crounse Corporation, who successfully completed a full Subchapter M TSMS audit including a review of its operations for compliance with Subchapter M. Crounse is the first of a number of companies that have chosen TVIB as their U.S. Coast Guard Approved Third-Party Organization (TPO) for Subchapter M compliance. TVIB said it is working with a number of TPO customers to take advantage of the recent Coast Guard policy letter CG-CVC Policy Letter 17-02 and the AWO Alert issued on June 8, that provided guidance on how a company can use its previous RCP Management Audit toward the issuance of its initial TSMS Certificate.

29 Mar 2017

Partnerships Drive SubChapter M Solutions

© Dale Stagg / Adobe Stock

Management software: vendors, consultants, class strive to provide turnkey service. Unless you’ve been lost at sea for the last few years, you know about Subchapter M. You know the June publication of the U.S. Coast Guard’s regulations for ensuring minimum safety standards on tows and tugs, which will extend inspection requirements to the majority of these vessels for the first time, moved the long-awaited, and in some cases, dreaded program from the haze of eventually out into the cold light of day.

05 Jan 2017

Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau Acquires Marine Auditing Firm

Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau (TVIB) has acquired Quality Auditing, LC, effective December 31, 2016. According to TVIB, the purchase strengthens its three-fold mission to provide training and continuing education for marine auditors and surveyors, develop audit and survey tools, and become a U.S. Coast Guard Third-Party Organization (TPO) under 46 CFR Subchapter M. Founded in 2009, Quality Auditing, LC is a full-service marine auditing firm specializing in providing third-party vendor audits and AWO Responsible Carrier Program audits, utilizing a network of auditors located throughout the inland waterways. The acquisition enables TVIB to expand its regulatory compliance service offerings for the industry as it prepares to conduct audits and surveys as a TPO.

16 Nov 2016

USCG Approves Subchapter M Internal Auditor Course

SafeMARINER, LLC and the ACTion group’s Marine Internal Lead Auditor (MILA) course has been audited by a third-party registrar and is now recognized as the first internal lead auditor course developed specifically for the inland industry and subchapter M. The course has been certified as meeting the ISO 19011 Guidelines for Auditing Management Systems and the ISO 9001 Quality Management System Requirements. The USCG has reviewed the course and determined that it is substantially equivalent to an ISO 9001 course and meets the internal auditor training requirements under 46 CFR 138.310(d)(2). “This course is full of practical hands on exercises for opening meetings…

23 May 2016

Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau Elects New Leaders

File photo: WCI

Members of the Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau (TVIB), the recognized professional trade organization of marine auditors, met on May 10, 2016 to elect a new slate of leaders for the 2016-2017 year, during TVIB’s Annual Membership Meeting and Spring Board of Directors Meeting. Lee Nelson, President of Upper River Services, was elected President, succeeding Ed Shearer, Principal Naval Architect of The Shearer Group. Captain David A. Foret, Jr., President of the ACTion group companies, was elected Vice President.

09 May 2016

AWO Holds Spring Convention

Tom Allegretti (Photo: AWO)

AWO members converge on Washington D.C. The American Waterways Operators’ (AWO) 2016 Spring Convention attracted more than 200 members to Washington, D.C. April 19-21, including 36 first-time attendees. The annual event included a day of organization-wide and sector-specific meetings to discuss priority industry issues, the 14th Annual Barge-In, the Annual Membership meeting, at which AWO’s new member leadership was elected and new members of the Board of Directors were enrolled, and the Board of Directors meeting.

02 Mar 2016

The (Updated) Responsible Carrier Program

Katharine SweeneyMonday, February 08, 2016

Last summer, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) announced its intent to accept the American Waterway Operators (AWO) Responsible Carrier Program (RCP) as an acceptable Towing Safety Management System (TSMS) under pending Subchapter M regulations. The acceptance did not come without some major changes to the RCP, changes that were needed to ensure the RCP would meet USCG requirements and become a viable option for operators once new Subchapter M regulations take effect. When that happens is anyone’s guess.

22 Mar 2013

AWO, TVIB Reach Agreement on Training and Certification of Responsible Carrier Program Auditors

The American Waterways Operators, the national trade association representing the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, has entered into an agreement with the Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau under which the TVIB will take over the responsibility for training and certifying AWO Responsible Carrier Program auditors later this year. The first TVIB-led auditor classes will be held this summer. AWO’s Responsible Carrier program is an industry initiated, third-party audited safety management system that promotes safe practices and environmental stewardship in the barge and towing industry, the largest segment of the U.S. domestic vessel fleet. The program was established in 1994 and has been a condition of AWO membership since 2000.

30 Nov 2012

Subchapter M & the Towing Vessel Bridging Program: What’s Next?

This time last year, the U.S. Coast Guard was busy taking comments on the proposed rulemaking for Subchapter M. A very vocal discussion ensued, with the predominant comments focused on impending requirements for rebuilding vessel electrical systems, the standard six on six off “boxed” watch schedules and whether elements of the Crew Endurance Management Systems (CEMS) should be included in the rulemaking. As of today, the industry has yet to hear of any definitive outcome of Subchapter M discussions, or plans for a final rulemaking.