Safety Alert: Inadequate Snaphook on Lifejackets
The information in this safety alert was distributed a few years ago by Coast Guard Sector New Orleans with limited geographic reach. Recently, Washington State Ferry personnel discovered numerous problematic snaphooks on one of their vessels and reported it to Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound. This USCG issued a new alert aiming to give the issue wider circulation and provides contact information for persons to take corrective action and obtain new snaphooks. The issue is the spring-loaded tab in the snaphook on the waist belt affecting some REVERE lifejacket models 198 RT and 160 RT.
USCG and CMTI Warn of Counterfeit Fire Extinguishers
Beware of counterfeit U.S. Coast Guard-approved portable fire extinguishers. The U.S. Coast Guard announced that it was made aware of counterfeit extinguishers said to be manufactured by Amerex Corporation and Buckeye Fish Equipment. “Both companies are major producers of genuine approved fire extinguishing equipment,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a marine safety alert issued in March 2013. “Counterfeit portable fire extinguishers pose a safety hazard for any vessel that has one on board,” said Chesapeake Marine Training Institute’s President and Founder, Capt. Guy Sorensen.
GlobalSantaFe New-build Rigs Provide Model for Requirements
Technical advances in the offshore industry and regulatory developments have spurred an update of the ABS Guide for Certification of Drilling Systems. First published in 1985 and last updated in 1990, the Guide references current standards and the recommendations of American Petroleum Institute (API). Importantly, the new Guide provides industry with an option for a “Safety Case” or risk-based analysis approach to certification, rather than applying the more traditional prescriptive rules reflected in the 1990 version of the Guide, says Merih Unuvar, ABS project leader and principal surveyor. “We’re offering drilling unit owners and builders a more streamlined approach to ABS classification, with the option of certifying the drilling system,” said Unuvar.
