If you’re reading this for information, it holds a lot of materials that can help you learn how to better protect yourself from accidents and injuries. Knowing how the NTSB and USCG prosecute marine casualties can give insights on how to implement changes in your vessel’s management systems to lessen the chances that your vessel is involved in a marine casualty in the first place. Bottom line is to prevent accidents and injuries at all cost before they happen. Unfortunately, being reactive instead of proactive is the normality of the industry. We have 30 years of experience working with safety management systems and how they direct the right decision and mitigate the risk that cause marine casualties in the first place. If you’re reading this because you’ve been in an accident or marine casualty, the first advice I can give you that you need to do, and I’m not being rude or trying to be counterproductive but, “Shut Your Mouth, Shut Your Mouth, Shut Your Mouth” Call me immediately at 907-360-2145 Time is critical!! Do not say anything to the USCG, NTSB, local law enforcement or any government agency. Very politely say, “I will cooperate but I need to talk to my attorney first”. All questions legally should stop. You have rights. What you tell NTSB can be used against you in court by the USCG and all government agencies. It will become public record and if there is a civil suit in the future, the plaintiff’s counsel can use these statements after any criminal proceeding to support their civil litigation against you. There may have been an accident on your vessel. You’ve been hit, or you have had a lawsuit due to a latent defect of equipment on board. It does not fit the criteria for the NTSB or USCG to investigate. However, the litigation could make a substantial impact on your company employees well being reputation, revenue. We review all evidence and even though it’s not a NTSB report, we use the same techniques of the NTSB. Through our experience we find the root cause and protect your interest. We work with your attorney, so they have the technical data they need to ask the right questions and protect your interest. What we do is buffer you from these agencies and media. You have a personnel and emotional interest in the accident or catastrophic event that has brought on the investigation. Energy is high, emotions are higher. Everything you say, “Can and will be held against you”. You’ve heard this before right? Often just minutes after the accident or catastrophic event occurred, the investigation process has already started. To be honest, its starts months before the accident because they will subpoena records. They already have a mountain of evidence on day one. We work with you and your attorney. When the NTSB or USCG looks at evidence they process it meticulously. I’ve been to the same school, I know their techniques, methods and methodology, so I know how their thinking when they ask you for documents, let there be no mistake about it, its evidence. When they ask for personnel records, training records, hour cards, fuel records, maintenance records, equipment list and medical records their building the foundation for cause that can be used in a criminal and civil case against you in the future. The media might get you at 3 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon at the office and their telling you that your boat is missing or is on fire. What you say at that moment will forever be achieved. What is said on the radio, phone, recorded messages, text messages and log entries everything are admissible evidence. Statements given or not given are crucial. Here is an example. Your factory processor just went aground. They come to you at your office at 1500 on Friday afternoon and inform you of the following; The “FV Pay it Back” just spilled 100,000 usg of fuel, next to a sea lion rookery, 25 people are missing and it’s been reported that a couple of the crew gave statements and sent texts and put on social media after being recovered that a abandon ship drill wasn’t conducted prior to getting underway, they say there wasn’t enough life jackets for everyone and no one knew how to launch the life rafts. You say; “This doesn’t surprise me, they must have been drunk when they left, that worthless captain, I’ve had problems with him taking short cuts and he did us a favor, a few less sea lions wouldn’t hurt.” What should have been said; 1. We’re doing everything for the safety and well-being of the recovered crew. 2. We’ve arranged for medical attention for anyone who needs it. 3. We’re working with the USCG in searching for all missing crew 4. We’re contacting the families of all crew members and providing information as it becomes available 5. We’re working with the USCG to lessen any effects of the spill and have begun steps for the immediate clean up; stopping all fuel from contaminating the environment and the sea lion population. 5. Then when the media ask a question to draw you away, you say the above again in the same order. PERIOD. I’m often asked how the NTSB chooses which marine accidents to investigate and what role the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) plays in our investigations. The NTSB has specific authority under the United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations to investigate “major marine casualties.” These are accidents involving vessels that result in one or more of the following: • The loss of six or more lives. • The loss of a mechanically propelled vessel of 100 or more gross tons. • Property damage initially estimated as $500,000 or more. • Serious threat, as determined by the USCG commandant and concurred with by the NTSB chairman, to life, property, or the environment by hazardous materials. Their authority to investigate covers major marine accidents on U.S. waters or those involving U.S.- flagged vessels worldwide. NTSB also have the authority to investigate casualties involving public (owned by the U.S.) and nonpublic vessels. In these casualties the threshold is defined by at least one fatality or damages of $75,000 or greater. So, where does the USCG fit in? The USCG conducts preliminary investigations of all marine accidents, then notifies NTSB when an accident qualifies as a major marine casualty. Unlike in other modes of transportation, such as aviation, where the NTSB leads the investigation, the USCG typically takes the lead in marine casualty investigations. Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the NTSB and USCG, however, the NTSB may become the lead federal agency for the investigation, depending on the circumstances. This may occur when there is a significant marine accident that is a subset of a major marine casualty and is defined in the MOU as the following: