Since the publication of Subchapter M, many AWO members have expressed concern with the rule’s requirements at 46 CFR §141.375 to carry three day and three night visual distress signals (VDS) aboard towing vessels on Rivers routes, noting that there are other, more effective means for inland towing vessels to notify nearby vessels of a distress condition. The Coast Guard has now approved under 46 CFR §141.225 an alternative arrangement proposed by AWO that provides a level of safety equivalent to the carriage of VDS: a distress notification procedure that towing vessels operating exclusively on Rivers routes can incorporate into their Towing Safety Management System.

 

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