Encl. (5) to COMDTINST 16200.3A
COMMERCIAL VESSEL SAFETY CIVIL PENALTIES
1.
Purpose.
The Marine Inspection (MI) program administers
statutes,
regulations and standards for the purpose of
promoting
safety of commercial vessels and of units
operating
on the Outer Continental Shelf.
2.
Enforcement Measures Generally.
a.
The civil penalty process is but one of the tools
available to the OCMI to achieve compliance with
statutory and regulatory requirements and standards.
Others include, but are not limited to, initiating
suspension and revocation proceedings against merchant
seamen's licenses, certificates, or documents; issuing
CG-835's requiring correction of deficiencies within a
specified time frame; revoking a Certificate of
Inspection; intervening under SOLAS provisions; or
issuing letters of warning.
b.
Not all of these mechanisms are available against
potentially responsible parties in all situations. For
instance, suspension and revocation proceedings may only
be used for licensed, certificated, or documented
personnel when jurisdiction can be established.
Similarly, civil penalty action may only be used in
cases involving specific violations of statute or
regulation, and penalties may only be assessed against
the individuals or entities specified in the statute or
regulation. Also, situations may occur which warrant
enforcement action against more than one party for a
single offense. For example, a failure to operate,
maintain, equip, or man a particular vessel as required
may be the responsibility of the vessel's owner,
operator, agent, master, and/or person in charge.
c.
The Officer in Charge Marine Inspection (OCMI) must
evaluate the nature and seriousness of the offense, the
likelihood of recurrence, competing investigative
workload, the availability of other remedial actions,
and other factors before selecting the proper tool or
tools for enforcement purposes. If civil penalty,
suspension and revocation, or criminal penalty action is
selected, the OCMI must also identify the responsible
parties and evaluate each party's degree of culpability.
d.
This instruction is not intended to imply that civil
penalty action is the preferred enforcement method to be
used in all situations. The intent of this instruction
is to provide general civil penalty enforcement guidance
and to provide a standardized method of determining
appropriate recommended civil penalty amounts.
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