Reporting Marine Casualties

The Coast Guard’s 17th District in Juneau, Ak. has put out a news release reiterating and clarifying the legal requirement for both immediate and written notification (within five days) whenever a vessel is involved in a marine casualty. Although the contact information is Alaska-specific the rest of it applies no matter where you may be. One item that is mentioned, but bears highlighting, is the requirement that the written notification be made within five days of the casualty itself, not five days after arriving back in port. While this might not be an issue in the Lower 48, in Alaska the geographic scale is so immense that it must be kept in mind. The Aleutian Islands are about 1,200 miles long and it can take a long time to get back to port.