b'environment which used firingslayup period ahead of the 2023goesintodetailonhowtheOcean-SAFETYof senior staff members and theTitanic Expedition. Gate operation was challenged by nu-loomingthreatofbeingfiredmerous Officers in Charge of Marine to dissuade employees and con- Individualspaid$250,000fortheInspection (OCMIs) to the point that tractors from expressing safetyeight-dayexpeditiontotheRMSthe company stopped notifying local concerns,and8)OceanGatesTitanicincludingmultipledivestoOCMIs of their intention to operate failure to conduct preventativethewreak.Theyweredesignatedasin their area of responsibility.maintenance on the Titans hullmissionspecialistsatermusedto or protect it from the elementsmask the fact that they were payingThe Marine Boards report is available duringtheextendedoffseasonpassengers. The Coast Guard reportto read here.MOVING FORWARDPVA will be contacted by GAO once theyidentifystafftoconductthe study. PVA has participated in GAO studiesinthepastregardingCoast GuardandMarineTransportation System topics. We will in turn reach outtoourcommitteesandother companieswillingtoparticipatein the study. We expect the study to take upwardsofayeartocompleteonce initiated.Thereareseverallayersto the illegal charter onion, and we will encourage GAO to dig deep.Also,asreportedoutatthePVA/CoastGuardQualityPartnership meetinginWashington,D.C.,on September17,theCoastGuardis nearingthereleaseofnational-level guidance to marine investigators on howtoeffectivelyinvestigateand prosecuteillegalpassengeropera-tions. This guidance is overdue and should result in more consistent in-vestigations and result in more signif-icantpenaltiesforillegalpassenger vessel owners and operators.For now, PVA members must contin-ue to identify potential illegal passen-ger operations in their areas of oper-ationandreporttothelocalCoast GuardSectorCommandCenteras much information as you know about the operation.FOGHORN 44'