Members of U.S. Coast Guard Station Los Angeles-Long Beach recently stopped an illegal charter vessel operating in the Newport Beach area of Orange County, California.
A 50-foot pleasure craft, Yachtley Crue, was carrying 12 passengers on Aug. 6 when Coast Guard members found the vessel in violation of 46 C.F.R. 176.100 (a) for not possessing a valid Certificate of Inspection, 46 C.F.R. 67.323 for operating in coastwise trade without the appropriate Certificate of Documentation endorsement and 46 C.F.R. 16.201 for failure to have a random drug testing program, according to the USCG.
“The Coast Guard will aggressively pursue any operator who is putting their customers at risk by operating outside these critical safety requirements,” said Capt. Ryan Manning, Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach commanding officer. “We urge anyone paying for a trip aboard a passenger vessel to ask to see the vessel operator’s Merchant Mariner Credential to verify they are properly licensed by the Coast Guard.”
Offenders could be fined thousands of dollars for operating a charter vessel illegally, including up to $20,719 for operating a passenger vessel without a Coast Guard license.
More information on the Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Division is available at https://www.uscgboating.org.
For questions about passenger-for-hire regulations can be sent to Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach Investigations Division at SECLALB@uscg.mil. Also, illegal charter operations can be reported to the Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach Command Center at LALBCOMMANDCENTER@uscg.mil.
