b'LEGISLATIVEREPORTby the Coast Guard at least onceactions, but the temptation for peoplevessels. Congress can best support annually to ensure compliance. The keyto engage in illegal charters is so com- safety on domestic passenger vessels statute is the Passenger Vessel Safetypelling that enforcement often seems toby strongly supporting and adequate-Act of 1993. be a game of whack-a-mole.ly funding and staffing the existing These requirements exist primarilyCoast Guard Marine Safety Mission for the safety of paying passengers.Conclusion with direct inspection of passenger A person who purchases a ticket toAn essential reason for PVAsvessels. Combatting the proliferation ride on a compliant commercial vesselexistence is to promote safety amongof illegal passenger vessel charters is should be confident that the vessel isits members and indeed among allan important component of that safety constructed properly, that its masteroperators of domestic passengermission. nand crew are properly certified and trained, and that it has appropriate fi re protection, communications, and life-saving equipment. The annual Coast Guard inspection ensures that the vessel meets these requirements.Far too frequently, a person with full knowledge of the Coast Guard require-ment tries to take a regulatory short cut and make a buck by using an un-inspected vessel to carry passengers for hire. This is illegal and jeopardizes the safety of passengers. The problem of illegal charters has always existed, but it seems to have become much worse with the prolif-eration of boat-sharing web sites. In the past, the illegal operator had to advertise locally by word of mouth. Now it is simple to market an illegalwww.imtra.comcharter to a nationwide audience with a listing on a boat-sharing web site. There are many such web sites. The sponsor of the web site doesnt know or care whether the vessel is operating legally, and its virtually impossible for the potential customer to tell.The Passenger Vessel Association has been sounding the alarm about the prevalence of illegal charters to the Coast Guard for several years. We are gratified that the Coast Guard, espe-cially in certain geographic areas, rec-ognizes the problem and has cracked down. Coast Guard units in Chicago, Miami, and elsewhere have under-taken extensive education and enforce-IMTRA COLORS 2016ment actions. Individual illegal charterLEDPrimary UseSecondary Usevoyages have been halted, owners and captains have been assessed civil fi nes, Captain of the Port orders to cease op- The Trusted Source for Advanced LED Lightingerations have been issued, and now we are beginning to see criminal penaltiesNAVIGATION LIGHTSDECK LIGHTINGENGINE ROOM LIGHTSSEARCHLIGHTSCABIN LIGHTINGimposed on repeat offenders. PVAPantone Cool Gray 7 508.995.7000 www.imtra.com Pantone 368 Pantone 629Blue Pantone 647 Pantone Cool Gray 2 Blackapplauds the Coast Guard for these20C 14M 12Y 40K 5C 3M 5Y 11K 0C 0M 0Y 100K 65C 0M 100Y 0K 36C 0M 9Y 0K96C 54M 5Y 27KDECEMBER 2019FOGHORN 35'