Coast Guard 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement file photo
MIAMI — The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 48-foot pleasure craft Blessed with 18 people aboard in the Miami River Friday evening after discovering several safety issues, including carrying more paying passengers than they were certified to carry aboard the vessel.
A Coast Guard Station Miami 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement boatcrew conducted the boarding of the Blessed in the Miami River where they discovered the following violations:
- Violation of 46 C.F.R. 176.100A for not having a valid Certificate of Inspection.
- Violation of 46 C.F.R. 15.515B for not having a credentialed mariner in control while operating a small passenger vessel.
- Violation of 46 C.F.R. 16.201 for failure to have a drug and alcohol program.
- Violation of 46 C.F.R. 170.120 for failure to have a valid stability letter.
“Before you hire a charter vessel, we urge people to request to see the vessel operator’s valid credentials or proof of required inspection or examination,” said Capt. Megan Dean, commander of Coast Guard Sector Miami. “Furthermore, passengers that participate in an illegal charter or mislead federal officers are not only breaking law, they are taking significant personal risk. Tragically we have seen recently incidents where passengers have lost their lives on such illegal charters.”
The owner and operator of the Blessed faces maximum civil penalties amounting to $41,546 for this illegal passenger for hire operation.
