b'SAFETY MATTERS:A New Report on Amphibious SAFETYPassenger Vessel SafetyERIC CHRISTENSEN // PVA DIRECTOR OF REGULATORY AFFAIRS & RISK MANAGEMENTO n December 16, 2021, the Nationalandinspectionactivity;safetystandardsdesign,engineering,andoutfi tting,and Academies of Sciences, Engineering,development; vessel safety and operations; andencouraged the exploration of operational and andMedicine(theNationalenforcement changes.Academies) released a fi nal report on Options forImprovingtheSafetyofDUKWTypeREASON FOR THE REPORTSafety on DUKWsSafetyonDUKWs,amphibiousvesselsfiAmphibious Vessels (2021). rst has been an areaproducedduringWorldWarIIandlong In September 2020, the U.S. Coast Guardsused for sightseeing tours, has been an area of Office of Design and Engineering Standards,of special concernspecial concern for the Coast Guard and the requestedthattheNationalAcademies,for the Coast GuardNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) through the Transportation Research Boardsover the last 20 years. A mass-fatality sinking MarineBoard,provideguidancetotheand the Nationalin1999ledtosignifi cantchangesinhow U.S. Coast Guard on actions it could takeTransportationthe Coast Guard oversees the inspection and that would increase safety on DUKW boatscertifi cationofamphibiouspassengervessels usedforcommercialpassengerservice.ToSafety Board. under its jurisdiction. When another DUKW conduct the study, the National Academiessank in 2018, with the loss of 17 lives, both appointedacommitteeofeightexpertsingovernmentandtheindustryrevisitedtheir the fi elds of naval architecture, vessel design,shipbuilding.TheCoastGuardspecifi callypreviouspositions,designs,andoperationsandengineering;CoastGuardregulationrequestedinvestigationofchangestovesselfor possible solutions. PVA member company Boston Duck Tours was instrumental is getting theamphibiouspassengervesselcommunity togethertoaddresstherenewedfocuson the industry.DUKWs are essentially military cargo trucks that fl oat. Although passenger operations that use the historic vessels from World War II have adapted the DUKWs to meet modern safety standards to the extent possible, some concerns remain.Modifi edDUKWs,suchasStretch DUKWs from the 1990s, and Truck Ducks, purpose built in the early 2000s for sightseeing tours, have further mitigated design challenges of the original craft. AREAS OF STUDY The committee reviewed the safety record of amphibious vessels, specifi cally DUKW boats and those vessels that look like DUKW boats, when used for commercial passenger service and identifi edoptionsforimprovingtheirsafety performance through changes in vessel design, engineering,andoutfi tting.Thecommitteereviewed fi and recommendations fromndings investigationsofcasualtiesinvolvingthese vessels by the NTSB, Coast Guard, and other marinesafetyauthoritiesintheU.S.and abroad.Itexaminedtheresultsoftechnical SAFETY MATTERS 34 FOGHORN'