b'use these documents to maintain vessel readi- date with the latest fire safety regulations andassigned and sent a user ID and password.To ness not only before a Coast Guard inspection,firefighting information. request login information please contact me but also as part of any preventative mainte- at echristensen@passengervessel.com. nance program.Asareminder,themanualandvideoare available through the online learning man- Fire safety remains a critical element of do-If a fire does start, the crew must be able toagement portal maintained by PVA Associatemestic passenger vessel operations. Through extinguish it during the early stages before itMember Marine Learning Systems. The on- effective crew training and hazard awareness, overwhelms their capabilities and equipment.line portal can be reached through the Mem- assessment,andmitigationPVAmembers Thealternativeistoabandonthevessel,ber Resources tab on the PVA website undercan minimize the risk of fire on board their which has its own associated risks to passen- Safety and Security Tools or by clicking onvessels and if needed respond appropriately ger and crew. thefollowinglinkpva.marinels.com.Eachto protect passenger from the dangers asso-vessel operating member company has beenciated with fire.CREW TRAININGFiresaboardvesselspresentuniquedangers that are not normally found with shoreside ex-posures. One of the most important aspects to consider when planning for fire safety aboard an inspected passenger vessel is that the crew of the vessel is the fire department. The passen-gers and crew do not normally have the option to run away from the fire to avoid danger.Crewtrainingrequirementsareverywell documentedintheregulations.Part122 (SubchapterK)and185(SubchapterT)of Title 46 Code of Federal Regulations contain requirements for crew training content, how often drills are required to be conducted, docu-mentation of training, emergency instructions, and station bills. Taken together these require-ments form the foundation of a crew training and competency management program within a company. Theresponsibilityforconductingfiredrills fall to the vessel master (see 46 CFR 122.524 and 185.524), but there should be no question that the company has the responsibility to crew theirvesselswithqualifiedandcompetent individuals. As we saw with the fire on board the M/V Conception and the loss of the vessels and 34 passenger and crew, abdication by the vessel owner to the master with no verification of training is a recipe for disaster.AsIdiscussedintheMarchissueofFOG-HORN,theCoastGuardhasaddedanew paragraph (b) to 46 CFR 122.420 (Subchapter K)and185.420(SubchapterT)requiring enhancedcrewfirefightingtrainingand emergency egress training monthly for certain overnight and offshore passenger vessels. The enhancements involve crew understanding of fire types and extinguishing agents in addition to more frequent drill requirements. FortunatelyforPVAmembers,thePVA Basic Firefighting Manual and video covers informationonfiretypes,classifications, spread,etc.ThePVASafety&Security Committee is in the process of updating the Basic Firefighting Manual to ensure it is up to 27 JUNE 2022'