20 JULY 2019 • FOGHORN Each year, thousands of preventable maritime accidents are caused by operator inattention, cited twice as frequently as the next leading factor. The Furuno BR500 Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) helps to prevent these accidents. Scan this code with your smart phone for a Guided Tour of the BR500. www.FurunoUSA.com O n Friday June 7, 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard published a final rule changing the re- quirements for marine radar refresher training. By way of introduction, the Federal Register notice said, “The Coast Guard is revising its merchant mariner credentialing regulations to remove obsolete portions of the radar observer requirements and harmonize the radar observer endorsement with the merchant marine credential. Those revisions will reduce an unnecessary financial burden on mariners required to hold a radar observer endorsement.” The rule becomes effective on July 22, 2019. To meet that objective, the Coast Guard is eliminating the need for radar refresher training for many mariners by recognizing their maritime work experience. When applying for a merchant mariner credential (MMC), at the time of renewal, the holder of a radar observer endorsement will have the renewed MMC endorsed as radar observer if the mariner has document- ed service of at least one year in the past five years on radar-equipped vessels where the radar was routinely used for navigation and collision avoidance. The radar refresher course change also is available to any merchant mariner who has taught a Coast Guard- approved radar course twice in the previous five-year period. Changes to Marine Radar Observer Refresher Training REGULATORYREPORT By Peter Lauridsen, PV A Regulatory Affairs Consultant